LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


329.9773 

L97p 

1889 


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EIGHTY  YEARS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Politics  AND  Politicians, 

ANECDOTES  AND  INCIDENTS. 


A Succinct  History  of  the  State. 


1809-1889. 


THIRD  EDITION— REVISED  AND  ENLARGED. 


BY  D.  W.  LUSK. 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILLINOIS. 
1889. 


Copyright,  1889,  by  D.  W.  Lusk. 


H.  W.  ROKKER, 
Stereotyper,  Printer,  Binder, 
Springfield,  111. 


3^1.^773 

rm 


4 . 

PREFACE. 

i ^ , 



y ' — * 

In  issuing  the  third  edition  of  Politics  and  Poli- 
ticians of  Illinois,  revised  and  enlarged,  the  writer 
has  involved  a comprehensive  history  of  the  State — its 
men  and  measures,  its  progress  in  population,  wealth 
and  intelligence — from  the  Territorial  times  of  1809 
to  its  Statehood,  a period  of  80  years.  It  is  illus- 
; trated  with  steel  portraits  of  many  distinguished  citizens, 

— and  enlivened  throughout  with  pleasing  incidents  and 
A anecdotes.  In  the  collation  of  facts,  the  official  records 
of  the  State  and  the  official  publications  of  the  Na- 
tional Government  have  been  consulted  with  the  ut- 
most care,  and  from  these,  together  with  a personal 
F observation  of  thirty  years,  the  writer  has  produced 
a volume  that  is  deemed  authentic  in  every  detail.  In 
dealing  with  men  and  political  parties,  he  has  observed 
rigid  impartiality,  seeking  only  the  truth  of  history, 
and  he  rests  in  the  belief  that  Politics  and  Politi- 
cians of  Illinois  will  be  accepted  as  a valuable  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  the  State. 

Springfield,  Illinois,  June,  1889. 


I 


CHAPTER  I. 

POLITICAL  PARTIES, 

Formation  of  Parties— First  Election  of  Washington  without  Political  Sig- 
nificance-Election of  John  Adams  as  a Federalist— Jefferson  Elected  as  a 
Republican— Madison  as  a Republican— Monroe  as  a Republican— John 
Quincy  Adams  as  a Coalitionist— Jackson  as  a Democrat— Van  Buren  as 
a Democrat— Harrison  as  a Whig— Polk  as  a Democrat— Taylor  as  a 
Whig— Pierce  as  a Democrat— Buchanan  as  a Democrat— Only  Presi- 
dents Elected  by  the  House  of  Representatives— National  Conventions— 
Federal  Party— Democratic— National  Republican— Whig— Abolition- 
Free  Soil— Know-Nothing— Native  American— Republican— Slavery  Ques- 
tion—Election  of  Bissell— Dred  Scott  Decision— Repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise— Attempt  to  make  Kansas  a Slave  State. 


In  order  to  intelligently  lay  the  foundation  of  our  history, 
Politics  and  Politicians  of  Illinois,  which  begins  in  1856 
with  the  campaign  in  which  the  Republican  party  was  or- 
ganized, a brief  retrospect  reference  is  made  to  National 
politics. 

Historians  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  exact  time  of  the 
formation  of  political  parties  in  the  United  States,  but  it  is 
accepted  that  Washington,  the  first  President,  wTas  elected 
in  1789  without  political  significance,  and  that  at  his  second 
election,  in  1792,  he  was  denominated  a Federalist.  In 
1796,  John  Adams,  his  successor,  was  elected  as  a Federal- 
ist. In  1800,  Thomas  Jefferson  was  elected  as  a Republi- 
can. There  was  a tie  in  the  Electoral  College  between  him 
and  Aaron  Burr,  and  the  election  was  carried  to  the  House 
of  Representatives.  Jefferson  was  elected  President  and 
Burr  Vice-President.  In  1804,  Jefferson  succeeded  himself 
as  a Republican.  In  1808,  James  Madison  was  elected  as  a 
Republican.  In  1812,  he  succeeded  himself  as  a Republican. 


2 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


In  1816,  James  Monroe  was  elected  as  a Republican. 
He  succeeded  himself  in  1820  as  a Republican.  In  1824, 
John  Quincy  Adams  was  elected  as  a Coalitionist.  There 
were  four  candidates,  Andrew  Jackson,  Wm.  H.  Crawford, 
Henry  Clay,  and  Adams.  Jackson  received  a plurality  of 
the  popular  vote,  but  there  was  no  election  by  the  Electoral 
College,  and  the  issue  was  carried  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, where  Adams  was  elected  by  a coalition.  In  1828j 
Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  as  a Democrat,  and  succeeded 
himself  as  such  in  1832.  In  1836,  Martin  Van  Buren  was 
elected  as  a Democrat;  and  as  there  was  no  choice  in  the 
Electoral  College  for  Vice-President,  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  elected  R.  M.  Johnson  to  that  office.  In  1840 
William  Henry  Harrison  was  elected  as  a Whig.  In 
1844,  James  K.  Polk  was  elected  as  a Democrat.  In  1848, 
Zachary  Taylor  was  elected  as  a Whig.  In  1852,  Franklin 
Pierce  was  elected  as  a Democrat,  and  in  1856,  James 
Buchanan  was  elected  as  a Democrat.  We  have  thus 
traced  the  Presidential  elections  to  1856.  Jefferson  and 
Adams  were  the  only  Presidents  ever  elected  by  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

The  National  convention  system  was  not  introduced  until 
as  late  as  1831.  Prior  to  that  time  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President  were  nominated  by  congressional  and 
legislative  caucuses.  Jackson  and  Calhoun  were  nominated 
in  that  manner  in  1832  for  President  and  Vice-President,  but 
there  was  much  opposition  to  the  nomination  of  Calhoun, 
and  a National  convention  was  held  at  Baltimore,  in  May, 
to  nominate  a candidate  for  that  office.  Martin  Van  Buren 
was  nominated,  and  elected  with  Jackson.  In  May,  1835, 
the  Democrats  assembled  in  National  convention  at  Balti- 
more, and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  President.  In 
the  same  year,  December  4,  the  Whigs  held  their  first 
National  convention,  at  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  nominat- 
ing William  Henry  Harrison  for  President,  and  Francis 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


3 


Granger  for  Vice-President.  From  this  time  the  respective 
parties  have  selected  their  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President  through  National  conventions. 

From  the  time  the  Government  was  formed  there  had 
been,  to  1856,  inclusive,  nine  distinct  political  parties, 
which  were  National  in  character,  and  appeared  in  the 
order  in  which  we  give  them  here.  In  1789,  the  Federal 
party  was  organized.  It  favored  the  Federal  Alliance  or 
confederation,  and  claimed  to  be  the  preserver  of  the 
Union.  Those  who  opposed  that  party  in  the  time  of 
Washington  were  known  as  Anti-Federalists,  but  afterward 
took  the  name  of  Republicans.  In  1807,  the  Democratic 
party  was  organized,  and  although  the  principles  advo- 
cated by  this  party  changed  from  time  to  time,  they  have 
studiously  held  on  to  the  original  name.  In  1831,  the  Na- 
tional Republican  party  was  organized,  to  oppose  the 
Democratic  party;  and  in  1834,  the  Whig  party  vas  or- 
ganized in  New  York,  as  the  continuation  of  the  National 
Republican  party.  In  1840,  the  Abolition  party  appeared. 
Its  distinctive  feature  was  the  advocacy  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  States  which  then  held  to  that  institu- 
tion. In  1848,  the  Free  Soil  party  was  organized.  It  op- 
posed the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the  Territories.  The 
Know-Nothing  party  was  formed  in  1852  as  a secret  or- 
ganization. It  announced  the  doctrine  that  “Americans 
should  rule  America,”  and  for  a time  was  successful  in 
some  of  the  States.  In  1856,  it  was  known  as  the  Native 
American  party.  In  that  year  the  present  Republican 
party  was  organized,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  putting 
an  end  to  the  further  extension  of  slavery. 

The  Abolition  party  made  an  incipient  effort,  in  1840,  to 
run  a candidate  for  President  in  the  person  of  James  G. 
Birney,  of  Michigan,  nominating  him  at  a convention  held 
at  Warsaw,  New  York,  as  early  as  November  13,  1839. 
He  received  but  7,059  votes  in  all  the  States,  and  149  of 


4 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


these  were  cast  in  Illinois.  In  1844,  the  Abolitionists  again 
presented  Birney,  nominating  him  at  Buffalo,  New  York, 
August  80,  1843.  This  time  he  received  62,300  votes.  Of 
these  Illinois  cast  3,570. 

The  next  anti-slavery  candidate  was  Martin  Van  Buren, 
who  was  nominated  by  a Free  Soil  convention  held  at 
Buffalo,  on  the  9th  of  August,  1848.  It  was  composed 
chiefly  of  Free  Soil  Democrats.  His  aggregate  vote  was 
291,263,  and  15,774  of  this  number  were  cast  in  Illinois. 
In  August,  1852,  the  Free  Soil  Democrats  assembled  at 
Pittsburgh,  and  nominated  John  P.  Hale,  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, as  their  candidate  for  President.  His  vote  was  not 
so  large  as  Yan  Buren’s,  it  being  only  156,149.  Illinois 
gave  him  9,966.  But  notwithstanding  his  vote  was  much 
less  than  Van  Buren’s,  it  furnished  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  had  taken  a strong  hold 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  South  as  well  as  North,  for 
Free  Soil  electoral  tickets  were  formed  in  the  slave  States 
of  Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland  and  North  Carolina. 

(See  Greeley  & Cleveland’s  Political  Text  Book,  1860, 
and  Lanman’s  Biographical  Annals  of  the  Civil  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  1876.) 

In  the  midst  of  these  fruitless  attempts  to  elect  an  anti- 
slavery man  to  the  Presidency,  there  was  a constant 
augmentation  of  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  all  the  free 
States  and  Territories ; and  the  nomination  of  Martin  Van 
Buren  was  the  first  outward  evidence  that  the  thoughtful, 
practical  men  of  the  country  were  taking  hold  of  the 
question.  It  had  evidently  become  apparent  to  the  minds 
of  the  anti-slavery  factions  of  the  Democratic  and  Whig 
v parties  North  and  South — the  men  who  were  not  willing 
to  follow  their  party  leaders  blindly  into  error — that  the 
Whig  party  would  ultimately  be  swallowed  up  by  the 
Democratic  party,  which  would,  in  their  judgment,  result 
disastrously  to  the  country.  But  the  question  was,  how 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


5 


should  they  arrest  the  great  storm  so  visible  to  them  in 
the  political  sky.  Their  numbers  were  comparatively  few. 
They  were  fearless  of  all  consequences.  To  their  minds 
a new  party  seemed  necessary  to  save  the  country  from 
an  intestine  conflict.  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken,  who  had  succeeded  Andrew  Jackson  as  President 
of  the  United  States  in  1836,  and  had  been  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  President  in  1840,  against  William 
Henry  Harrison,  was  nominated  by  them  for  President  as 
the  candidate  of  the  Free  Soil  party.  The  result  of  his 
nomination  was  the  defeat  of  Lewis  Cass,  the  regular 
Democratic  candidate,  and  the  election  of  Zachary  Taylor. 
This  election  seemed  only  to  put  off  the  evil  day,  for  the 
Democratic  party  succeeded  four  years  after  in  electing 
Franklin  Pierce  over  Winfield  Scott,  the  candidate  of  the 
Whig  party. 

The  Free  Soil  party  having  announced  no  principle 
except  that  of  hostility  to  the  further  spread  of  slavery, 
did  not  commend  itself  to  the  favor  of  the  people  North, 
South,  East  and  West  who  did  not  desire  to  enlist  under 
the  Democratic  banner,  and  many  of  them  united  with 
the  Native  American  party,  which  came  forward  in  1856, 
as  the  successor  of  the  Whig  and  Know-Nothing  parties, 
with  Millard  Fillmore,  the  Vice-President  under  Taylor 
and  President  after  his  death,  as  its  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent. In  the  meantime  the  Free  Soil  party  had  abandoned 
its  original  name  and  came  forward  with  a new  name — 
the  Republican  party — a new  platform  of  principles  and 
new  accessions,  chiefly  from  the  Democratic  party,  in  all 
the  Eastern  and  Northwestern  States,  and  John  C.  Fre- 
mont was  chosen  as  its  candidate  for  President,  under  the 
bold  and  broad  declaration  that  there  should  be  no  fur- 
ther extension  of  slavery.  The  Democrats  nominated 
James  Buchanan.  The  triangular  race  resulted  in  the 
election  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  whose  aggregate  vote  was 


6 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


1,838,169;  Fremont,  1,341,264;  Fillmore,  874,534.  Mr. 
Buchanan’s  plurality  in  Illinois  was  9,159 ; Fremont’s  vote 
in  Illinois  was  96,189,  and  Fillmore’s  37,444.  But  although 
Illinois  cast  her  electoral  vote  for  Buchanan,  Wm.  A. 
Richardson,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor,  was 
beaten  by  Wm.  H.  Bissell,  the  Republican  candidate,  by 
a majority  of  4,697.  Mr.  Bissell  was  an  able  and  accom- 
plished gentleman,  who  had  won  popular  fame  as  a soldier 
in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  had  represented  the  Belleville 
district  in  the  Thirty-first,  Thirty-second  and  Thirty-third 
Congresses. 

With  Mr.  Bissell,  there  were  elected  John  Wood,  Lieu- 
tenant Governor;  0.  M.  Hatch,  Secretary  of  State;  Jesse 
K.  Dubois,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts;  James  Miller, 
Treasurer,  and  Wm.  H.  Powell,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction.  This  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
Illinois  that  any  person  other  than  a Democrat  had  been 
chosen  to  fill  a State  office.  Several  times  prior  to  this 
the  Clay  men  or  Whigs  had  taken  up  a Jackson  man  or 
Democrat  and  voted  for  him  for  Governor,  against  the 
person  thought  to  be  the  favorite  candidate  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  the  dominant  party,  notably  among  whom  was 
John  Reynolds,  in  1830,  who  was  elected  over  Wm.  Kin- 
ney, then  Lieutenant  Governor.  The  election  of  Joseph 
Duncan  in  1834  was  another  instance — Kinney  being  again 
a candidate.  (See  Ford’s  History.)  Party  lines  between 
the  Democrats  and  Whigs  were  not  radically  drawn  in 
this  State  until  about  1836,  but  the  Whig  party  was  always 
in  a hopeless  minority.  The  nearest  the  Whig  party  ever 
came  to  carrying  the  State  was  in  the  campaign  between 
Harrison  and  Yan  Buren.  Harrison  received  45,537  votes? 
and  Yan  Buren  47,476.  Of  the  formation  of  the  Republican 
party  we  shall  speak  more  at  length  in  the  succeeding 
chapter. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


7 


Under  Mr.  Buchanan’s  administration  the  slave  power 
became  more  and  more  aggressive.  In  fact,  the  slave 
power  had  dictated  and  dominated  the  legislation  from 
the  first  Congress  to  the  administration  of  Buchanan,  in 
Whig  as  well  as  in  Democratic  administrations;  and  in 
1852,  when  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  adopted,  in 
National  conventions,  platforms  which  were  identical  on 
the  slavery  question,  then  it  was  that  that  question  seemed 
to  absorb  all  others  in  the  National  legislature.  The 
development  of  the  country,  the  progress  and  happiness 
of  its  people,  were  lost  sight  of.  Laws  repugnant  to  the 
character  and  intelligence  of  the  people  of  the  free  States 
had  been  passed  from  time  to  time,  under  the  impudent 
threat  of  Southern  senators  and  representatives  that  if 
they  were  not  passed  the  South  would  dissolve  the  Union. 
But  the  most  obnoxious  and  offensive  measure  was  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  which  compelled  the  citizens  of  the 
free  States  to  turn  out  at  the  will  or  command  of  the 
United  States  marshals  to  aid  in  the  arrest  or  return  of 
slaves  escaping  from  their  masters  into  free  territory. 

And  next  to  this  was  the  assault  upon  Charles  Sumner, 
n United  States  senator  from  the  commonwealth  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  had  been  brutally  and  murderously 
assaulted  in  open  day  in  the  United  States  Senate  by 
Preston  L.  Brooks,  a representative  from  South  Carolina, 
for  simply  expressing  his  political  opinions  in  debate,  and 
although  Brooks  was  expelled  from  that  body,  his  con- 
stituents promptly  re-elected  him,  as  an  indorsement  of 
the  brutal  act. 

Not  only  was  the  legislation  of  the  National  government 
in  the  interest  of  slavery,  but  the  Supreme  Court  was 
made  to  bow  to  the  demands  of  the  power  behind  it.  We 
refer  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  This  was  rendered  in  De- 
cember, 1S56,  in  a case  wherein  a colored  man,  whose  name 
was  Dred  Scott,  had  been  taken,  together  with  his  wife  and 


8 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


two  daughters,  by  his  master,  John  F.  A.  Sanford,  a resi- 
dent of  the  State  of  Missouri,  to  Eock  Island,  Illinois,  to 
reside.  Illinois  being  a free  State,  these  persons,  there- 
fore, became  free  the  moment  they  were  landed  on  her 
soil  with  the  intention  to  remain  as  residents. 

On  the  return  of  Sanford  with  Scott  and  his  family  to 
Missouri,  Scott  sued  in  the  State  court  for  his  freedom, 
and  believing  that  few  of  our  readers  will  be  able  to  call 
to  mind  the  true  character  of  this  cause,  and  that  they 
will  be  interested  in  knowing  the  full  significance  of  the 
decision,  we  print  the  substance  of  it,  as  reported  by 
Benjamin  C.  Howard,  the  official  reporter.  The  case  is 
thus  stated  by  him  in  the  published  decisions  of  that 
court : 

“This  case  was  brought  up,  by  writ  of  error  from  the- 
Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  of  Mis- 
souri. It  was  an  action  vi  et  armis , instituted  in  the  circuit 
court  by  Scott  against  Sanford.  Prior  to  the  institution  of 
the  present  suit,  an  action  was  brought  by  Scott  for  his  free- 
dom in  the  Circuit  Court  of  St.  Louis  county  (State  court), 
where  there  was  a verdict  and  judgment  in  his  favor. 
On  a writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  the 
judgment  below  was  reversed,  and  the  case  remanded  to 
the  Circuit  Court,  where  it  was  continued  to  await  the 
decision  of  the  case  now  in  question.  The  declaration  of 
Scott  contained  three  counts:  one  that  Sanford  had 
assaulted  the  plaintiff ; one  that  he  had  assaulted  Harriet 
Scott,  his  wife,  and  one  that  he  had  assaulted  Eliza  Scott 
and  Lizzie,  his  children. ” 

The  close  of  the  syllabus  of  the  case,  as  reported  in 
19th  Howard,  and  which  gives  the  substance  of  the  longest 
and  most  interesting  opinion  ever  rendered  by  the  Supreme- 
Court  of  the  United  States,  is  as  follows : 

“The  plaintiff  himself  acquired  no  title  to  freedom  by 
being  taken  by  his  owner  to  Eock  Island  in  Illinois,  and 
brought  back  to  Missouri.  This  court  has  heretofore 
decided  that  the  status  or  condition  of  a person  of  African 
descent  depended  on  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he 
resided.  It  has  been  settled  by  the  decisions  by  the  highest 
court  in  Missouri,  that  by  the  laws  of  that  State  a slave 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


9 


does  not  become  entitled  to  his  freedom  where  the  owner 
takes  him  to  reside  in  a State  where  slavery  is  not  per- 
mitted, and  afterwards  brings  him  back  to  Missouri. 

“Conclusion : It  follows  that  it  is  apparent  upon  the 
record  that  the  court  below  erred  in  its  judgment  in  the 
plea  in  abatement,  and  also  erred  in  giving  judgment  for 
the  defendant  when  the  exception  shows  that  the  plain- 
tiff was  not  a citizen  of  the  United  States.  And  as  the 
Circuit  Court  had  no  jurisdiction  either  in  the  case  stated 
in  the  plea  in  abatement,  or  in  the  case  stated  in  the 
exception,  its  judgment  in  favor  of  the  defendant  is 
erroneous  and  must  be  reversed. ” 

At  that  time  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
was  composed  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  Justices  Nelson, 
Grier,  Daniel,  Campbell,  Catron,  Wayne,  McLean,  and 
Curtis.  Chief  Justice  Taney  delivered  the  opinion,  and 
Justices  McLean  and  Curtis  were  the  only  members  of 
the  court  who  dissented. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820,  which 
had  restricted  slavery  within  the  territory  south  of  par- 
allel 36°  30',  and  which  opened  up  all  the  Territories  to 
the  spread  of  slavery,  the  brutal  attempt  to  stifle  free 
speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  extraor- 
dinary decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  and  the  effort  of  President  Buchanan  to  force  Kan- 
sas into  the  Union  with  a constitution  which  recognized 
slavery,  were  so  palpably  wrong  in  themselves,  that  the 
great  body  of  the  people  in  the  North — Free  Soilers,  Na- 
tive Americans,  Whigs  and  Democrats — were  one  in  their 
denunciation  of  the  aggressive  steps  of  the  slave  power,, 
and  they  stood  ready  with  their  lives,  their  fortunes  and 
their  sacred  honor,  to  do  that  which  would  preserve  the 
Government  and  the  Union  as  they  had  been  handed 
down  to  them  by  Washington,  Jefferson,  Jackson,  and  all 
the  patriot-fathers. 

In  that  long  and  exciting  debate  in  Congress  over  the 
legislation  relating  to  the  admission  of  Kansas  into  the 
Union,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  the  only  Democratic 


10 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Senator,  if  we  except  George  E.  Pagh,  of  Ohio,  who  had 
the  moral  courage  to  oppose  Buchanan’s  policy,  and  to 
Douglas’  good  name  and  great  fame  be  it  said  he  opposed  it 
with  manly  courage,  and  with  all  the  ability  of  his  mas- 
ter mind,  and  because  of  this  he  was  ostracised  by  the 
followers  of  the  Administration,  and  its  immense  patron- 
age was  freely  used  in  Illinois  with  the  hope  of  destroying 
his  power  in  his  own  State. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  National  politics  when  we 
commence  our  history  of  the  politics  and  politicians  of 
Illinois,  since  which  time  the  politics  of  Illinois  have  been 
the  politics  of  the  Nation. 


CHAPTER  II. 

SLAVERY  AGITATION, 


Why  a New  Party  was  Necessary— Missouri  Compromise  of  1820— Compro- 
mise Measures  of  1850— Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820— 
Douglas  Denied  the  Right  of  Free  Speech  in  Chicago— Organization  of 
the  Republican  Party— Three  Branches  of  the  Government  Pro-Slavery— 
Growth  of  the  Republican  Party— Caucus  at  Williamsville— First  Repub- 
lican Convention  at  Cairo— First  Republican  Caucus  at  Metropolis. 


Why  a New  Party  was  Necessary. 

The  Republican  party,  which  has  had  almost  complete 
control  of  the  governments  of  the  State  and  Nation  since 
1861,  was  permanently  organized  in  this  State  at  Bloom- 
ington, May  29,  1856.  Prior  to  that  time  the  Democratic 
party  had  held,  with  the  exception  of  a few  brief  inter- 
vals, the  complete  control  of  the  government  of  the  Nation 
since  the  formation  of  parties ; and  while  the  Whig  party 
had  maintained  an  organization  in  the  State  from  1836 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


11 


to  the  dissolution  of  the  party,  yet  it  had  never  been  able 
to  dispute,  successfully,  the  right  of  the  Democratic  party 
to  control  the  affairs  of  the  State,  and  in  order  that  the 
reader  may  better  understand  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Eepublican  party,  brief  reference  is  made 
to  the  history  of  the  legislation  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment upon  the  slavery  question.  Slavery  had  been  transmit- 
ted to  the  United  States  by  the  British  Government,  and 
although  most  all  the  early  Fathers  of  the  Republic  were 
opposed  to  the  institution,  yet  they  were  unable  to  eradi- 
cate it  from  a country  whose  declaration  of  independence 
had  voiced  the  doctrine  that  all  men  were  created  equal, 
and  slavery  was  thus  left  as  a cancer  upon  the  body 
politic,  and  remained  the  subject  of  bitter  controversy  be- 
tween the  people  of  the  North  and  South.  For  years 
prior  to  1820,  when  what  is  known  as  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  passed,  the  question  had  been  assuming  an 
important  and  alarming  position  in  the  public  mind,  and 
ever  and  anon  threatened  the  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
The  States  of  the  North  had  gotten  rid  of  such  negro  slaves 
as  they  had  originally  possessed,  and  had  enacted  laws 
forbidding  their  citizens  from  owning  or  bringing  within 
their  limits,  negroes  for  purposes  of  labor.  The  feeling, 
in  these  States,  that  slavery  was  sinful,  had  been  gradu- 
ally gaming  ground,  and  there  were  many  persons  in  the 
South  who  held  the  same  view.  Certain  religious  bodies 
in  the  country  had  distinctly  expressed  their  belief  that  it 
was  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Christianity  to  own  slaves, 
and  memorials  had  been  presented  to  the  Legislatures  of 
some  of  the  States,  and  to  Congress,  praying  for  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery.  Though  Congress  did  not  hesitate  to 
pass  an  Ordinance  in  1787,  dedicating  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  of  which  Illinois  was  a part,  to  freedom,  yet  it 
steadily  refused  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  peti- 
tions presented  to  it  regarding  the  abolition  of  slavery 


12 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


throughout  the  Nation.  Article  six  of  that  Ordinance* 
reads  thus : 

“ There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude 
in  the  said  Territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment 
of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 
victed: Provided , always,  that  any  person  escaping  into 
the  same,  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed 
in  any  one  of  the  original  States,  such  fugitive  may  be 
lawfully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming, 
his  or  her  labor  or  service  as  aforesaid.  ” 

The  existence  of  slavery  within  the  States  was  recog- 
nized and  protected  by  the  constitution,  and  Congress  held 
that  it  had  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  domestic  rela- 
tions of  the  States. 

Missouri  Compromise  of  1820. 

In  February,  1819,  the  Territory  of  Missouri,  which  was 
formed  out  of  a part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase,  asked 
permission  to  form  a constitution  preparatory  to  being 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a State.  When  the  bill  for 
this  purpose  was  presented  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives  on  the  13th  of  February,  Mr.  Tallmadge,  of  New 
York,  proposed  to  insert  a clause  providing  “that  the 
further  introduction  of  slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude, 
be  prohibited,  except  for  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted;  and  that  all 
children  born  in  said  State  after  the  admission  thereof 
into  the  Union,  shall  be  free  [at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.”  The  announcement  of  this  amendment  produced 
a great  sensation  in  the  House,  and  throughout  the  country. 
It  was  believed  by  the  advocates  of  slavery  that  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  1790,  in  reply 
to  the  first  petition  presented  to  it  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  which  declared  the  policy  of  the  Government  to 
be  non-interference  with  slavery  in  the  States,  had  settled 
the  question  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  government 
respecting  slavery.  The  bill  continued  to  be  the  subject 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


13 


of  a long  and  angry  debate  in  the  House,  and  finally 
passed  that  body  by  a small  majority  as  amended  by  Mr. 
Tallmadge,  but  it  was  defeated  in  the  Senate. 

When  Congress  re-assembled  in  December,  1819,  the 
discussion  as  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  was  again 
renewed,  and  again  the  House  passed  the  bill  as  amended 
by  Mr.  Tallmadge,  but  when  it  reached  the  Senate  the 
clause  prohibiting  slavery  was  stricken  out,  and  an  amend- 
ment, offered  by  Senator  Thomas,  of  Illinois,  was  substi- 
tuted, which  was  in  these  words : “ Section  8.  And  be  it 

further  enacted , That  in  all  the  territory  ceded  by  France 
to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  which 
lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north 
latitude,  not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  State  con- 
templated by  this  act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude 
otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  be  and  is 
hereby  forever  prohibited : Provided , always , that  any  per- 
son escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom  labor  or  service 
is  lawfully  claimed  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed,  and  con- 
veyed to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  service 
as  aforesaid. ” The  title  of  the  bill  was  amended  so  as  to 
agree  with  this  section  when  it  was  sent  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  for  its  concurrence.  The  House  refused  to 
accept  the  amendment  of  the  Senate,  and  a committee  of 
conference  was  appointed  by  both  houses  for  the  purpose 
of  agreeing  upon  a bill  acceptable  to  both  sections  of  the 
country. 

During  the  sitting  of  the  conference  committee,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  who  was  then  living  in  retirement  at  Monticello, 
Virginia,  and  who  was  sincerely  opposed  to  slavery,  wrote 
a patriotic  letter  in  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  bill 
as  amended  by  Mr.  Thomas;  he  deprecated  the  thought 
of  establishing  a sectional  line,  and  said  the  mere 


14 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


suggestion  of  such  a line  sounded  to  him  like  a fire-bell 
at  night,  and  that  its  consummation  might  sound  the  death- 
knell  of  the  Union. 

After  weeks  of  bitter  discussion  before  the  committee  of 
conference,  the  amendment  offered  by  the  Illinois  Senator 
was  adopted,  and  the  bill  as  agreed  upon  by  the  com- 
mittee passed  the  Senate  March  2,  1820,  by  a vote  of  27 
ayes  to  15  noes,  when  it  was  sent  to  the  House  for  its 
concurrence.  The  bill  passed  that  body  on  the  same  day 
by  a vote  of  134  ayes  to  42  noes.  Both  the  Illinois  Sena- 
tors, Edwards  and  Thomas,  and  the  Representative,  Mr. 
Cook,  voted  for  the  bill.  (See  the  House  and  Senate 
Journals.) 

After  the  passage  of  the  bill,  in  a letter  under  date  of 
April  13,  1820,  addressed  to  Wm.  Short,  Mr.  Jefferson 
said : 

“I  had  laid  down  a law  to  myself,  never  to  write,  talk 
or  even  think  of  politics,  to  know  nothing  of  public  affairs, 
and  therefore  had  ceased  to  read  newspapers,  yet  the 
Missouri  question  aroused  and  filled  me  with  alarm.  I 
have  been  among  the  most  sanguine  in  believing  that  our 
Union  would  be  of  long  duration.  I now  doubt  it  much. 
My  only  comfort  and  confidence  is  that  I shall  not  live  to 
see  this ; and  I envy  not  the  present  generation  the  glory 
of  throwing  away  the  fruits  of  their  fathers’  sacrifice  of 
life  and  fortune,  and  of  rendering  desperate  the  experi- 
ment which  was  to  decide  ultimately  whether  man  was 
capable  of  self-government.”  (See  Volume  7 of  Jefferson’s 
Complete  Works.) 

Notwithstanding  the  compromise  was  introduced  by 
Mr.  Thomas,  Benton  tells  us,  in  his  Thirty  Years’  View 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  that  its  adoption  was  the 
w^ork  of  the  pro-slavery  men. 

The  constitution  under  which  Missouri  applied  for  admis- 
sion into  the  Union  sanctioned  slavery,  and  contained  a 
clause  which  prohibited  the  Legislature  from  interfering 
with  the  question. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


15 


There  was  also  a clause  in  it  authorizing  the  Legislature 
to  prohibit  the  emigration  of  free  people  of  color  into  the 
State,  and  this  clause  was  laid  hold  of  in  Congress  to 
resist  the  admission  of  the  State.  It  was  treated  as  a 
breach  of  that  clause  in  the  Federal  constitution  which 
guarantees  equal  privileges  in  all  the  States  to  the  citi- 
zens of  every  State,  of  whitfh  privileges  the  right  of 
emigration  was  one  ; and  free  people  of  color  being  admitted 
to  citizenship  in  some  of  the  States,  this  prohibition  of 
emigration  was  held  to  be  a violation  of  that  privilege  in 
their  persons.  Here  followed  an  equally  angry  discussion 
over  the  peculiar  features  of  this  constitution,  and  it  did 
not  end  until  a committee  of  conference  of  the  two  houses 
had  met  and  agreed  upon  a resolution  favoring  the  admis- 
sion of  the  State  upon  the  condition  that  her  Legislature 
should  first  declare  that  the  clause  in  the  constitution 
relative  to  the  colored  emigration  into  the  State  should 
never  be  construed  to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  act 
by  which  any  citizen  of  any  of  the  States  of  the  Union 
should  be  excluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  any  privilege 
to  which  he  may  be  entitled  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  President  of  the  United  States 
being  furnished  with  a copy  of  said  act,  should,  by  pro- 
clamation, declare  the  State  to  be  admitted.  This  reso- 
lution was  passed  in  the  House  by  a vote  of  86  to  82,  and 
in  the  Senate  by  a vote  of  28  to  14. 

The  Legislature  of  Missouri  complied  with  the  require- 
ments of  this  resolution,  and  on  the  10th  of  August,  1821, 
President  Monroe  issued  a proclamation  declaring  the 
admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  in  complete  accord- 
ance with  law. 

In  his  last  message  to  Congress,  President  Polk  had 
recommended  the  extension  of  the  line  36°  30'  north 
latitude  to  the  Pacific,  thus  leaving  it  to  the  people 


16 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


south  of  that  line  whether  they  would  have  slavery  or  not. 
This  proposition  was  acceptable  to  the  people  of  the 
South,  but  it  did  not  meet  with  favor  in  the  North. 


Compromise  Measures  of  1850. 

In  1849,  when  California  applied  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Union,  with  a constitution  which  prohibited  slavery, 
the  sectional  controversy  was  again  renewed,  with  alarm- 
ing fury,  and  grave  fears  were  entertained  for  the  safety 
of  the  Union.  Zachary  Taylor  was  President,  and  while 
recognizing,  in  his  first  message,  the  gravity  of  the  situ- 
ation, and  the  danger  which  threatened  the  country  from 
the  sectional  controversy,  he  expressed  his  determination 
to  faithfully  discharge  his  duties  to  the  whole  country, 
and  recommended  the  admission  of  California,  under  the 
constitution  her  people  had  chosen ; and  advised  that  Utah 
and  New  Mexico  be  organized  as  Territories,  with  liberty 
to  decide  the  question  of  slavery  for  themselves,  when  they 
were  ready  to  enter  the  Union  as  States. 

Regarding  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  President 
Taylor  said  : 

“But  attachment  to  the  union  of  the  States  should  be 
habitually  fostered  in  every  American  heart.  For  more 
than  half  a century,  during  which  kingdoms  and  empires 
have  fallen,  this  Union  has  stood  unshaken.  The  patriots 
who  formed  it  have  long  since  descended  to  the  grave; 
yet  still  it  remains  the  proudest  monument  to  their  mem- 
ory, and  the  object  of  affection  and  admiration  with  every 
one  worthy  to  bear  the  American  name.  In  my  judgment 
its  dissolution  would  be  the  greatest  of  calamities,  and  to 
avert  that  should  be  the  study  of  every  American.  Upon 
its  preservation  must  depend  our  own  happiness  and  that 
of  countless  generations  to  come.  Whatever  dangers  may 
threaten  it,  I shall  stand  by  it,  and  maintain  it  in  its 
integrity,  to  the  full  extent  of  the  obligations  imposed  and 
the  power  conferred  upon  me  by  the  Constitution.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


17 


On  the  question  of  the  admission  of  California,  ho  was 
equally  frank: 

“No  civil  government  having  been  provided  by  Congress 
for  California,  the  people  of  that  Territory,  impelled  by 
the  necessities  of  their  political  condition,  recently  met  in 
convention,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a constitution  and 
State  government,  which  the  latest  advices  give  me  reason 
to  suppose  has  been  accomplished ; and  it  is  believed  they 
will  shortly  apply  for  the  admission  of  California  into  the 
Union  as  a sovereign  State.  Should  such  be  the  case, 
and  should  their  constitution  be  conformable  to  the  requi- 
sitions of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  I recom- 
mend their  application  to  the  favorable  consideration  of 
Congress.  ” 

The  issue,  as  then  made  up  between  the  North  and  the 
South,  was  this  : The  South  opposed  the  admission  of  Cal- 
ifornia as  a free  State,  and  demanded  the  better  execution 
of  the  fugitive  slave  law;  the  North  was  opposed  to  the 
admission  of  any  more  slave  States ; demanded  the  abo- 
lition of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  was  unwilling  for  the  execution  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law  within  the  Northern  States.  These  questions 
occupied  the  attention  of  Congress  almost  exclusively,  and 
the  excitement  permeated  the  entire  Union,  and  repeated 
threats  came  from  Southern  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives that  if  the  demands  of  the  South  were  not  ac- 
ceded to,  the  Southern  States  would  withdraw  from 
the  Union ; and  the  situation  was  indeed  alarming, 
when,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1850,  Henry  Clay  intro- 
duced ten  resolutions  in  the  Senate,  as  a compromise, 
which  provided  for  the  admission  of  California  as  a free 
State;  the  organization  of  the  Territories  of  Utah  and 
New  Mexico,' * without  reference  to  slavery;  the  abolition 
of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the 
enactment  by  Congress  of  a more  stringent  and  effective 
law  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves. 

The  resolution  of  Mr.  Clay,  which  related  to  a compro- 
mise on  the  slavery  question,  was  as  follows: 


18 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“Resolved,  That  as  slavery  does  not  exist  by  law,  and 
is  not  likely  to  be  introduced  into  any  of  the  territory  ac- 
quired by  the  United  States  from  the  Republic  of  Mexico, 
it  is  inexpedient  for  Congress  to  provide  by  law  either 
for  its  introduction  into  or  exclusion  from  any  part  of  the 
said  territory;  and  that  appropriate  Territorial  govern- 
ments ought  to  be  established  by  Congress  in  all  of  the 
said  territory,  not  assigned  as  the  boundaries  of  the  pro- 
posed State  of  California,  without  the  adoption  of  any 
restriction  or  condition  on  the  subject  of  slavery.” 

Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  spoke  thus  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  passage  of  the  resolution: 

“But,  sir,  we  are  called  on  to  receive  this  as  a meas- 
ure of  compromise ! Is  a measure  in  which  we  of  the 
minority  are  to  receive  nothing,  a measure  of  compro- 
mise? I look  upon  it  as  but  a modest  mode  of  taking 
that,  the  claim  to  which  has  been  more  boldly  asserted 
by  others ; and  that  I may  be  understood  upon  this  ques- 
tion, and  that  my  position  may  go  forth  to  the  country 
in  the  same  columns  that  convey  the  sentiments  of  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky,  I here  assert  that  never  will  I 
take  less  than  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  extended  to 
the  Pacific  ocean,  with  the  specific  recognition  of  the 
right  to  hold  slaves  in  the  territory  below  that  line ; and 
that,  before  such  Territories  are  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  States,  slaves  may  be  taken  there  from  any  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  option  of  their  owners.” 

Mr.  Clay,  with  no  less  candor  or  courage,  replied  to 
Mr.  Davis  in  these  words : 

“I  am  extremely  sorry  to  hear  the  Senator  from  Mis- 
sissippi say  that  he  requires,  first,  the  extension  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  to  the  Pacific,  and  also  that  he 
is  not  satisfied  with  that,  but  requires,  if  I understood 
him  correctly,  a positive  provision  for  the  admission  of 
slavery  south  of  that  line.  And,  now,  sir,  coming  from  a 
slave  State,  as  I do,  I owe  it  to  myself,  I owe  it  to  truth, 
I owe  it  to  the  subject,  to  say  that  no  earthly  power  could 
induce  me  to  vote  for  a specific  measure  for  the  intro- 
duction of  slavery  where  it  had  not  before  existed,  either 
South  or  North  of  that  line.  Coming,  as  I do,  from  a 
slave  State,  it  is  my  solemn,  deliberate  and  well-matured 
determination  that  no  power,  no  earthly  power,  shall 
compel  me  to  vote  for  the  positive  introduction  of  slavery 
either  south  or  north  of  that  line.  Sir,  while  you 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


19 


reproach,  and  justly,  too,  our  British  ancestors  for  the  in- 
troduction of  this  institution  upon  the  continent  of 
America,  I am,  for  one,  unwilling  that  the  posterity  of 
the  present  inhabitants  of  California  and  of  New  Mexico 
shall  reproach  us  for  doing  just  what  we  reproach  Great 
Britain  for  doing  to  us.  If  the  citizens  of  those  Territo- 
ries choose  to  establish  slavery,  and  if  they  come  here 
with  constitutions  establishing  slavery,  I am  for  admitting 
them  with  such  provisions  in  their  constitutions ; but  then 
it  will  be  their  own  work,  and  not  ours,  and  their  pos- 
terity will  have  to  reproach  them,  and  not  us,  for  form- 
ing constitutions  allowing  the  institution  of  slavery  to  ex- 
ist among  them.  These  are  my  views,  sir,  and  I choose 
to  express  them;  and  I care  not  how  extensively  or  uni- 
versally they  are  known.” 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  an  invalid  at  the  time  the  bill  was 
presented  for  the  admission  of  California,  and  he  brought 
into  the  Senate  a written  speech  of  great  length  and  care- 
fully prepared,  which  he  was  too  weak  to  deliver,  and  upon 
his  request  it  was  allowed  to  be  read  by  his  friend,  Senator 
Mason,  from  Virginia.  We  give  place  to  the  following 
extract,  as  showing  the  views  of  the  great  Senator  upon 
the  slavery  question,  as  it  presented  itself  to  his  mind: 

“I  have,  Senators,  believed  from  the  first  that  the  agita- 
tion of  the  subject  of  slavery  would,  if  not  prevented  by 
some  timely  and  effective  measure,  end  in  disunion.  Enter- 
taining this  opinion,  I have,  on  all  proper  occasions, 
endeavored  to  call  the  attention  of  each  of  the  two  great 
parties  which  divide  the  country,  to  adopt  some  measure 
to  prevent  so  great  a disaster,  but  without  success.  The 
agitation  has  been  permitted  to  proceed,  with  almost  no 
attempt  to  resist  it,  until  it  has  reached  a period  when  it 
can  no  longer  be  disguised  or  denied  that  the  Union  is  in 
danger.  You  have  thus  had  forced  upon  you  the  greatest 
and  the  gravest  question  that  can  ever  come  under  your 
consideration.  How  can  the  Union  be  preserved?  . . . 

It  is  time,  Senators,  that  there  should  be  an  open  and 
manly  avowal  on  all  sides,  as  to  what  is  intended  to  be 
done.  If  the  question  is  not  now  settled,  it  is  uncertain 
whether  it  ever  can  hereafter  be ; and  we,  as  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  States  of  this  Union,  regarded  as  govern- 
ments, should  come  to  a distinct  understanding  as  to  our 
respective  views,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  great 


20 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


questions  at  issue  can  be  settled  or  not.  If  you,  who  repre- 
sent the  stronger  portion,  cannot  agree  to  settle  them  on 
the  broad  principle  of  justice  and  duty,  say  so;  and  let 
the  States  we  both  represent  agree  to  separate  and  part 
in  peace.  If  you  are  unwilling  that  we  should  part  in 
peace,  tell  us  so,  and  we  shall  know  what  to  do,  when  you 
reduce  the  question  to  submission  or  resistance.  If  you 
remain  silent,  you  will  compel  us  to  infer  by  your  acts 
what  you  intend.  In  that  case,  California  will  become  the 
test  question.  If  you  admit  her  under  all  the  difficulties 
that  oppose  her  admission,  you  compel  us  to  infer  that 
you  intend  to  exclude  us  from  the  whole  of  the  acquired 
Territories,  with  the  intention  of  destroying  irretrievably  the 
equilibrium  between  the  two  sections.  We  would  be  blind 
not  to  perceive,  in  that  case,  that  your  real  objects  are 
power  and  aggrandizement,  and  infatuated  not  to  act 
accordingly.’’ 

Mr.  Webster,  of  Massachusetts,  was  an  earnest  advocate 
of  the  compromise  measure,  and  made  a speech  in  support 
of  it,  which  required  three  days  for  its  delivery,  and  which 
produced  a profound  sensation  throughout  the  country, 
and  exercised  a powerful  influence  in  securing  the  passage 
of  the  bill. 

During  the  pendency  of  the  discussion  of  this  bill,  Presi- 
dent Taylor  died,  and  Vice-President  Fillmore  became 
President,  which,  if  possible,  added  new  alarm  to  the 
situation. 

Calhoun  died  before  the  bill  admitting  California  came 
to  a vote.  It  passed  the  Senate  by  a vote  of  34  ayes  to 
18  noes.  Ten  of  the  Senators  who  voted  against  it  pre- 
pared an  elaborate  protest  against  the  passage  of  the  bill, 
and  asked  that  it  be  spread  of  record  upon  the  journal, 
the  pith  of  which  was  in  these  words : 

“But,  lastly,  we  dissent  from  this  bill,  and  solemnly 
protest  against  its  passage,  because,  in  sanctioning  meas- 
ures so  contrary  to  former  precedent,  to  obvious  policy, 
to  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  the  slave-holding 
States  from  the  Territory  thus  to  be  erected  into  a State, 
this  government  in  effect  declares,  that  the  exclusion  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


21 


slavery  from  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  an  object 
so  high  and  important  as  to  justify  a disregard  not  only 
of  all  the  principles  of  sound  policy,  but  also  of  the  Con- 
stitution itself.  Against  this  conclusion  we  must  now  and 
forever  protest,  as  it  is  destructive  of  the  safety  and  liber- 
ties of  those  whose  rights  have  been  committed  to  our  care, 
fatal  to  the  peace  and  equality  of  the  States  which  we 
represent,  and  must  lead,  if  persisted  in,  to  the  dissolution 
of  that  confederacy,  in  which  the  slave-holding  States 
have  never  sought  more  than  equality,  and  in  which  they 
will  not  be  content  to  remain  with  less.” 

The  Senate  declined  to  receive  the  protest,  and  the  bill 
was  sent  to  the  House,  where  it  was  promptly  passed, 
and  receiving  the  signature  of  President  Fillmore,  Cali- 
fornia was  admitted  into  the  Union. 

All  this  clamor  about  a dissolution  of  the  Union  grew 
out  of  the  fact  that  the  people  of  California  had  framed  a 
constitution  which  excluded  from  her  territory  the  barbar- 
ism of  African  slavery.  This  was  the  height  and  depth, 
the  length  and  breadth  of  her  offending. 

The  other  features  of  Mr.  Clay's  resolutions  of  compro- 
mise continued  to  be  the  subject  of  debate  in  both  branches 
of  Congress,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  were 
formulated  into  bills  which  passed  both  houses,  and  re- 
ceiving the  approval  of  the  President,  became  the  law 
of  the  land.  (See  Benton’s  Thirty  Years’  View  in  the 
United  States  Senate.) 

Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820. 

This  restored  quiet  to  the  country  for  a short  time,  and 
a short  time  only ; for  in  December,  1852,  when  Mr.  Hall, 
of  Missouri,  introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives 
a bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  Platte  out  of  the  vast 
territory  which  was  then  defined  as  the  Platte  Country, 
the  sectional  fires  were  again  rekindled.  The  bill  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Territories,  which,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1853,  reported  a bill  organizing  the  Territory  of 
Nebraska.  Notwithstanding  the  Missouri  compromise  had 


22 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


restricted  that  country  to  free  labor,  the  Southern  mem- 
bers hoped  to  obtain  a footing  for  slavery  in  at  least  a 
part  of  it;  and  on  the  16th  of  January,  1854,  Senator 
Dixon,  of  Kentucky,  gave  notice  that  whenever  the 
Nebraska  bill  should  be  called  up  he  would  move  the  fol- 
lowing amendment:  “That  so  much  of  the  eighth  section 
of  an  act  approved  March  6,  1820,  entitled  ‘An  act  to 
authorize  the  people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a 
constitution  and  State  government,  and  for  the  admission 
of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  States,  and  to  prohibit  slavery  in  certain  Terri- 
tories,’ as  declares  that,  ‘in  all  the  territory  ceded  by 
France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana, 
which  lies  north  of  36°  30'  north  latitude,  slavery  and  in- 
voluntary servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of 
crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  be  forever  prohibited,’  shall  not  be  so  construed  as 
to  apply  to  the  Territory  contemplated  by  this  act,  or  to 
any  other  Territory  of  the  United  States;  but  that  the 
citizens  of  the  several  States  or  Territories  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  take  and  hold  their  slaves  within  any  of  the 
Territories  or  States  to  be  formed  therefrom,  as  if  the 
said  act,  entitled  as  aforesaid,  had  never  been  passed.” 

This  announcement  startled  the  people  of  the  North,  for 
the  amendment  proposed  a repudiation  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  without  seeking  its  repeal. 

Senator  Douglas,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Terri- 
tories, on  the  23d  of  January,  1854,  reported  a bill,  which 
provided  for  the  organization  of  the  Platte  country  into 
two  Territories.  The  southern  portion,  which  lay  directly 
west  of  Missouri,  stretching  to  the  Eocky  Mountains  on 
the  west,  and  extending  from  the  thirty-seventh  to  the 
fortieth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  was  to  be  organized 
into  a distinct  Territory,  to  be  called  Kansas.  The  re- 
mainder was  to  be  called  Nebraska,  having  the  line  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


23 


43°  30'  for  its  northern  boundary,  and  Mr.  Douglas  in- 
corporated in  the  bill  the  main  features  of  Mr.  Dixon’s 
amendment.  Section  21  provided,  “That,  in  order  to 
avoid  misconstruction,  it  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act,  so  far  as  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery  is  concerned,  to  carry  into  practical  opera- 
tion the  following  propositions  and  principles,  established 
by  the  compromise  measures  of  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  to-wit: 

“First.  That  all  questions  pertaining  to  slavery  in  the 
Territories,  and  in  the  new  States  to  be  formed  therefrom, 
are  to  be  left  to  the  decision  of  the  people  residing  there- 
in, through  their  appropriate  representatives. 

“Second.  That  all  cases  involving  title  to  slaves,  and 
questions  of  personal  freedom,  are  referred  to  the  adjudi- 
cation of  the  local  tribunals,  with  the  right  of  appeal  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

“Third.  That  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  tlq.e  United  States,  in  respect  to  fugitives  from 
service,  are  to  be  carried  into  faithful  execution  in  all  the 
‘organized  Territories’  the  same  as  in  the  States.” 

The  section  of  the  bill  which  prescribed  the  qualifica- 
tions and  mode  of  election  of  a Delegate  from  each  of  the 
Territories,  was  as  follows:  “The  Constitution,  and  all 
laws  of  the  United  States  which  are  not  locally  inappli- 
cable, shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  within  the 
said  Territory  as  elsewhere  in  the  United  States,  except 
the  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of 
Missouri  into  the  Union,  approved  March  6,  1820,  which 
was  superseded  by  the  principles  of  the  legislation  of 
1850,  commonly  called  the  compromise  measures,  and  is 
declared  inoperative.” 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  by  a vote  of  37  ayes  to  14 
noes,  and  the  House  by  113  ayes  to  100  noes ; and  on 
the  31st  of  May,  1854,  received  the  approval  of  President 
Pierce.  (See  House  and  Senate  Journals,  1854.) 


24 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


By  the  passage  of  this  bill  all  the  Territories  were 
opened  up  to  the  introduction  of  slavery,  and  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  Missouri  Compromise  renewed  the  sectional 
strife. 

Right  of  Free  Speech  Denied  to  Douglas. 

It  would  seem  strange  that  to  the  Senators  of  the  free 
State  of  Illinois  should  be  left  the  task  of  furnishing  the 
legislation  which  was  to  extend  the  boundary  of  slavery, 
or  gratify  the  extravagant  demands  of  the  pro-slavery  men 
of  the  South.  No  special  notice  seems  ever  to  have  been 
taken  in  Illinois  of  the  amendment  offered  by  Senator 
Thomas,  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, but  Douglas  was  denounced  all  through  the  North 
by  the  anti-slavery  men — Democrats  as  well  as  Whigs — 
and  was  denied  the  right  of  free  speech  on  his  return  to 
his  home  in  Chicago,  in  Sept.  1854.  He  had  caused 
the  announcement  to  be  made  previous  to  his  arrival  that 
he  would  address  his  fellow- citizens  at  North  Market  Hall, 
in  vindication  of  his  course  in  Congress  on  the  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  bill,  and  when  the  hour  had  arrived  for 
the  meeting,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  persons 
thronged  the  place  with  no  other  motive  than  to  prevent 
him  from  speaking,  and  for  four  long  hours  did  he  stand 
facing  the  mob,  and  at  every  lull  of  the  tumult  ventur- 
ing to  address  them,  but  at  last  he  was  forced  to  leave 
the  stand  without  making  himself  heard,  intelligibly,  even 
for  a moment. 

During  the  discussion  which  preceded  the  passage  of 
this  bill,  emigrant  aid  societies  had  been  formed  in  the 
New  England  States  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  emigration 
to  Kansas,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  emigration  from 
the  Southern  States  was  slow,  it  became  apparent  to  the 
pro-slavery  men  that  if  something  was  not  done  to  coun- 
teract the  Northern  emigration,  Kansas  would  become  a 
free  State,  and  in  order  to  do  this  hundreds  of  pro-slavery 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


25 


men  from  Missouri  were  sent  over  to  take  charge  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Territory.  On  their  arrival,  formal 
notice  was  given  to  the  free- State  men  to  leave  the  Terri- 
tory and  never  return  to  it,  but  this  they  declined  to  do, 
and  the  result  was  that  an  intestine  war  prevailed  for  a 
long  time,  during  which  many  free-State  men  were  mur- 
dered in  cold  blood,  while  others  were  driven  out  of  the 

♦ 

Territory  with  the  loss  of  their  property,  many  of  whom 
were  from  Illinois ; and  as  a climax  to  these  great  wrongs, 
the  pro-slavery  men  framed,  through  fraud,  a constitution 
recognizing  slavery,  and  attempted,  by  the  aid  of  the  Ad- 
ministration of  President  Buchanan,  to  force  Kansas  into 
the  Union  under  that  constitution,  and  here  the  power 
and  greatness  of  Douglas  shone  forth  in  their  brightest 
splendor,  for  to  his  masterly  opposition,  more  than  to  all 
other  causes,  was  this  outrage  upon  the  character  and 
intelligence  of  the  people  of  Kansas  averted,  and  those 
who  had  denounced  him  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  now  applauded  him  with  a fervor  that  was  as 
boundless  as  the  denunciation  had  been. 

Organization  of  the  Republican  Party. 

Here  is  the  state  of  facts  which  impelled  anti-slavery 
Democrats,  anti-slavery  Whigs  and  anti-slavery  Americans 
to  form  a new  party,  with  the  hope  of  arresting  the  ag- 
gressive steps  of  the  slave  power  in  the  National  Govern- 
ment; and  it  was  this  that  moved  the  anti-slavery  men 
of  Illinois  to  aid  in  the  organization  of  the  new  party, - 
and  one  of  the  first  meetings  which  took  place  in  the 
State,  for  this  purpose,  was  held  in  Jacksonville  in  1853, 
at  which  there  were  only  seven  persons,  namely,  Jos.'  0. 
King,  Elihu  Wolcott,  Charles  Chappel,  James  Johnson, 
John  Mathers,  William  Harrison  and  Anderson  Foreman. 
A resolution  was  adopted  pledging  .themselves  to  use  all 
honorable  means  to  prevent  the  further  spread  of  slavery. 
In  1854,  similar  meetings  were  held  in  various  counties  of 


26 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Central  and  Northern  Illinois,  and  a State  convention  met 
at  Springfield  in  October,  and  nominated  John  E.  McClun, 
of  McLean  county,  as  a candidate  for  Treasurer,  but  the 
name  of  James  Miller,  of  the  same  county,  was  after- 
wards substituted,  and  he  made  the  race  as  an  anti-Kan- 
sas-Nebraska  man  against  John  Moore,  the  Democratic 
candidate,  but  he  failed  of  election. 

\ 4 

The  anti-slavery  men  were,  for  a long  time,  at  a loss  for 
an  acceptable  name  for  a new  party.  The  first  suggestion 
of  Republican  party,  was  made  at  the  convention  of  Whigs 
held  in  Bloomington,  in  1854,  which  nominated  Jesse 
0.  Norton  for  Congress,  by  Jesse  Lynch,  who  introduced 
a resolution,  which  was  seconded  by  John  Cusey,  which 
proposed  to  call  the  new  organization  the  Republican 
party. 

The  anti-slavery  movement  continued  to  grow  in  magni- 
tude, and  in  the  spring  of  1856  the  sentiment  was  ripe 
for  the  organization  of  a new  party,  and  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  Jacksonville  Journal , then  a weekly  newspaper, 
edited  by  Paul  Selby,  the  present  editor  of  the  Illinois 
State  Journal , a meeting  of  the  anti-Kansas-Nebraska  edi- 
tors was  held  at  Decatur,  February  22,  for  the  purpose  of 
outlining  a political  policy.  There  were  present  at  this 
meeting  V.  Y.  Ralston,  Quincy  Whig ; C.  H.  Ray,  Chicago 
Tribune ; 0.  P.  Wharton,  Rock  Island  Advertiser ; T.  J. 
Pickett,  Peoria  Republican ; George  Schneider,  Chicago 
Staats-Zeitung ; Charles  Faxon,  Princeton  Post;  A.  N.  Ford, 
Lacon  Gazette;  B.  F.  Shaw,  Dixon  Telegraph;  W.  J. 
Usrey,  Decatur  Chronicle;  Paul  Selby,  Jacksonville  Jour- 
nal. A resolution  was  adopted  recommending  that  a State 
convention  be  called  to  meet  at  Bloomington,  May  29,  and 
a committee  consisting  of  one  from  each  Congressional 
district,  and  two  from  the  State  at  large,  was  selected  for 
that  purpose.  The  committee  was  as  follows : W.  B. 
Ogden,  Chicago;  S.  M.  Church,  Rockford;  G.  D.  A.  Parks, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


27 


Joliet;  T.  J.  Pickett,  Peoria;  E.  A.  Dudley,  Quincy ; Wm. 
H.  Herndon,  Springfield;  R.  J.  Oglesby,  Decatur;  Joseph 
Gillespie,  Edwardsville ; D.  L.  Phillips,  Jonesboro,  and 
Gustavus  Kcerner  and  Ira  0.  Wilkinson,  from  the  State 
at  large. 

Agreeably  to  the  recommendation  of  the  editorial  con- 
tention, a State  convention  met  at  Bloomington,  May  29. 
Many  of  the  counties  were  unrepresented,  but  this  did  not 
deter  the  convention  from  organizing,  and  John  M.  Palmer 
was  chosen  permanent  President,  with  J.  A.  Davis,  of 
Stephenson,  William  Ross,  of  Pike,  James  McKee,  of  Cook, 
J.  H.  Bryant,  of  Bureau,  A.  C.  Harding,  of  Warren,  Rich- 
ard Yates,  of  Morgan,  H.  0.  Jones,  of  Piatt,  D.  L.  Phil- 
lips, of  Union,  George  Smith,  of  Madison,  J.  H.  Marshall, 
of  Coles,  J.  M.  Ruggles,  of  Mason,  G.  D.  A.  Parks,  of 
Will,  and  John  Clark,  of  Schuyler,  as  Vice-Presidents. 
H.  S.  Baker,  of  Madison,  C.  L.  Wilson,  of  Cook,  John 
Tilson,  of  Adams,  W.  Bushnell,  of  LaSalle,  and  B.  J.  F. 
Hanna,  of  Randolph,  were  elected  Secretaries. 

After  the  usual  forms  and  ceremonies,  William  H.  Bis- 
sell,  of  St.  Clair,  was  nominated  for  Governor ; Francis  A. 
Hoffman,  for  Lieut. -Governor,  but  subsequently  the  name 
of  John  Wood,  of  Adams,  was  substituted;  0.  M.  Hatch, 
of  Pike,  for  Secretary  of  State ; Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of  Law- 
rence, for  Auditor;  James  Miller,  of  McLean,  for  Treas- 
urer, and  W.  H.  Powell,  of  Peoria,  for  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction. 

J.  C.  Conkling,  of  Sangamon,  Asahel  Gridley,  of  McLean, 
B.  C.  Cook,  of  LaSalle,  C.  H.  Ray  and  N.  B.  Judd,  of  Cook, 
were  constituted  the  State  Central  Committee. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  0.  H.  Browning,  Richard  Yates,  John 
M.  Palmer,  Owen  Lovejoy,  Lyman  Trumbull  and  John 
Wentworth,  were  the  minds  which  directed  the  destiny  of 
the  new  party,  and  its  platform  was  so  framed  as  to  have 
no  uncertain  sound  regarding  the  further  extension  of 


28 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


slavery,  nor  was  there  any  want  of  devotion  to  the  Unions 
of  the  States.  Here  are  the  resolutions  which  related  to  the 
National  questions : 

“ Resolved , That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opin- 
ions and  practices  of  all  the  great  statesmen  of  all  parties 
for  the  first  sixty  years  of  the  administration  of  the  gov- 
ernment, that  under  the  constitution  Congress  possesses 
the  power  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories ; and  that 
whilst  we  will  maintain  all  constitutional  rights  of  the  South, 
we  also  hold  that  justice,  humanity,  the  principles  of  free- 
dom, as  expressed  in  our  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
our  National  Constitution,  and  the  purity  and  perpetuity  of 
our  government,  require  that  that  power  should  be  exerted 
to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery  into  Territories  hereto- 
fore free. 

“Resolved.  That  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
was  unwise,  unjust  and  injurious ; an  open  and  aggravated 
violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  States,  and  that  the 
attempt  of  the  present  administration  to  force  slavery  into 
Kansas  against  the  known  wishes  of  the  legal  voters  of 
that  Territory,  is  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannous  violation  of 
the  rights  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  and  that  we 
will  strive  by  all  constitutional  means  to  secure  to  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  the  legal  guaranty  against  slavery  of  which 
they  were  deprived  at  the  cost  of  the  violation  of  the  plighted 
faith  of  the  Nation. 

“Resolved,  That  we  are  devoted  to  the  Union,  and  will, 
to  the  last  extremity,  defend  it  against  the  efforts  now 
being  made  by  the  disunionists  of  this  administration  to 
compass  its  dissolution,  and  that  we  will  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  in  all  its  provisions,  regard- 
ing it  as  the  sacred  bond  of  our  union,  and  the  only  safe- 
guard for  the  preservation  of  the  rights  of  ourselves  and 
our  posterity.” 

Upon  this  platform,  as  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
new  party,  its  standard  bearers  went  forth  to  battle.  It 
was  the  Presidential  year.  James  Buchanan  was  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidate  for  President ; Millard  Fillmore  the  Native 
American;  and  June  17,  the  anti-slavery  Democrats  and 
Whigs  of  the  North  met  at  Philadelphia  and  organized  the 
National  Republican  party,  thus  adopting  the  name  which 
had  been  assumed  by  the  new  party  in  Illinois,  and  nom- 
inated John  C.  Fremont  for  President.  Thus  stimulated, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


29 


the  Bepublican  party  of  Illinois  went  boldly  forward  to 
secure  the  election  of  their  State  ticket,  and  while  Buchanan 
carried  the  State  by  a plurality  of  9,150  over  Fremont, 
the  Bepublican  State  ticket  was  elected  throughout.  Bis- 
sell’s  majority  over  W.  A.  Bichardson,  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  Governor,  was  4,697. 

Three  Branches  of  the  Government  Pro- Slavery. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  when  the  Bepublican 
party  carried  the  Presidential  election  in  1860,  the  pro- 
slavery men  held  control  of  three  branches  of  the  National 
Government — both  houses  of  Congress  and  the  Supreme 
Court— and  added  to  this  was  a voluntary  avowal  by  the 
incoming  President  that  jfcheir  domestic  institutions  would 
in  no  wise  be  disturbed  by  the  change  made  in  political 
rulers.  Notwithstanding  this,  they  abandoned  their  places 
in  Congress  and  attempted  to  establish  an  independent 
government  with  slavery  as  its  chief  corner  stone,  and 
when  the  government  at  Washington  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge their  independence,  they  made  war  on  the  Union,  the 
result  of  which  is  known  to  all  who  read  history. 

Party  Affiliations. 

More  than  a quarter  of  a century  has  elapsed  since  the 
formation  of  the  Bepublican  party,  and  radical  changes 
have  taken  place  in  the  governments  of  the  State  and 
Nation,  and  with  the  change  of  issues  a corresponding 
change  in  political  affiliation.  Many  of  the  great  leaders 
who  took  a prominent  part  in  the  formation  of  the  Bepub- 
lican party  are  numbered  with  the  silent  dead.  Some  of 
those  who  gave  it  character,  courage  and  power  in  its 
infancy  are  now  affiliating  with  the  Democratic  party,  and 
many  of  the  Democratic  leaders  who  were  then  pro-slavery 
in  sentiment,  now  make  their  political  home  with  the  Be- 
publican party. 


30 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Growth  of  the  Eepublican  Party. 

The  Republican  party  had  a very  small  beginning  in 
Sangamon  county.  When  the  Whig  party  dissolved,  its 
members  became  Native  Americans  or  Democrats.  One  of 
the  first  Republican  caucuses  held  in  Sangamon  county 
was  at  Williamsville,  in  the  spring  of  1856,  and  the  only 
Republicans  present  were  S.  H.  Jones,  more  familiarly 
known  as  Sam  Jones,  and  Jacob  Beck.  Mr.  Jones  occu- 
pied the  chair,  and  Mr.  Beck  made  the  speech  of  the 
occasion.  The  meeting  had  been  called  at  their  instance, 
and  although  the  house  was  full  of  spectators,  there  was 
no  one  outside  of  these  gentlemen  who  dared  to  announce 
their  adhesion  to  the  new  party.  Jones  was  made  the  dele- 
gate to  the  county  convention  which  met  at  Springfield,  in 
the  law  office  of  Lincoln  & Herndon.  There  were  only  about 
a dozen,  in  all,  present.  Lincoln  was  the  leading  spirit, 
and  pointed  out  the  way  to  victory.  At  the  following  No- 
vember election,  Williamsville  cast  fifteen  votes  for  John 
C.  Fremont ; and  in  1880,  there  were  some  three  hundred 
votes  polled  for  Garfield,  and  the  Republican  majority  was 
seventy-five,  which  shows  that  the  seed  of  the  new  party 
was  sown  in  good  ground. 

The  first  Republican  convention  held  in  Cairo  was  in 
the  spring  of  1858.  This  was  called  to  appoint  delegates 
to  the  State  convention  at  Springfield,  which  nominated 
Abraham  Lincoln  for  United  States  Senator,  in  opposition 
to  Douglas.  The  convention  had  been  thoroughly  adver- 
tised, and  the  house  was  well  filled  with  people  anxious 
to  see  how  the  new  anti-slavery  party  progressed.  Re- 
publicanism was  by  no  means  popular  in  that  section  at 
that  time ; and  there  were  just  four  representatives  in  the 
convention,  namely,  D.  J.  Baker,  John  C.  White,  James 
Summerville,  and  C.C.  Brown,  who  afterward,  in  the  up- 
heaval of  politics,  joined  the  Democratic  party.  White 
was  elected  chairman  and  Baker  secretary.  While  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


81 


committee  on  resolutions,  which  consisted  of  Summerville 
and  Baker,  was  out,  Mr.  Brown  entertained  the  audience 
in  a speech  of  some  length,  on  the  purpose  and  hope  of 
the  party;  and  next  day  the  Chicago  Tribune  appeared 
with  an  extended  account  of  the  convention,  entitling  it 
the  “First  Gun  from  Egypt.” 

In  1859,  when  the  Republican  party  was  in  its  very 
infancy  in  Southern  Illinois,  William  H.  Green,  then  a 
Representative  in  the  Twenty-first  General  Assembly,  in- 
vited to  his  office,  in  Metropolis,  a few  prominent  Demo- 
crats, for  the  purpose  of  consulting  as  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  party.  “Gentlemen,’’  said  he,  “you  may  think  this 
meeting  unnecessary,  or  it  may  look  to  you  like  a farce, 
but  I tell  you  now  that  the  time  is  coming  when  the 
Democratic  party  of  this  State  will  have  to  thoroughly 
organize,  if  they  wish  to  hold  political  supremacy;  and  I 
may  say,  that  even  in  this  county  the  Republican  party 
will  test  our  strength  to  the  utmost.”  The  Republicans 
of  that  county  were  not  long  in  working  out  a literal  ful- 
fillment of  Mr.  Green’s  prediction.  The  first  Republican 
organization  in  Massac  county  took  place  at  Metropolis, 
in  the  spring  of  1860.  There  were  just  five  persons  pre- 
sent— W.  R.  Brown,  R.  A.  Peter,  L.  P.  Stalcup,  Tillman 
Robey  and  Thos.  Moore.  Mr.  Brown  was  made  chairman 
and  Mr.  Stalcup  secretary.  The  vote  in  that  county  at 
the  Presidential  election  was  940  for  Douglas  and  John- 
son, 122  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  82  for  Bell  and  Everett, 
and  4 for  Breckinridge  and  Lane.  But  how  marvelous 
the  revolution  in  public  sentiment.  Massac  county  now 
gives  a Republican  majority,  ranging  from  800  to  700,  and 
the  same  can  be  said  of  many  other  counties  in  Southern 
Illinois,  the  stronghold  of  Democracy. 


:32 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1856. 


First  Republican  State  Ticket— Democratic— Native  American— Republican 
Success— Aggregate  Vote  for  State  Officers— Members  of  Congress- 
Electoral  Tickets. 


The  political  contest  opened  up  early  in  the  year ; that 
being  the  year  of  the  Presidential  election,  the  State  con- 
ventions were  necessarily  early.  There  were  three  parties 
to  claim  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  The  Democrats  held 
their  convention  at  Springfield,  May  1 ; the  Native  Ameri- 
cans, at  the  same  place,  May  6,  and  the  Eepublicans  at 
Bloomington,  May  29,  when  this  party  was  first  organized 
of  which  we  speak  at  length  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  State  tickets,  for  the  most  part,  were  made  up  of 
able,  eminent  men,  and  on  the  electoral  tickets  the  reader 
will  observe  such  names  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  Henry  P. 
H.  Bromwell,  David  L.  Phillips,  John  A.  Logan,  Orlando 
B.  Ficklin,  Wm.  A.  J.  Sparks,  Joseph  Gillespie,  Shelby 
M.  Cullom  and  Wm.  H.  Parish. 

Heretofore  the  Democratic  party  had  encountered  little 
or  no  opposition  in  the  State  or  Presidential  elections, 
but  the  formation  of  the  Kepublican  party,  which  was 
composed  largely  of  anti-slavery  Democrats,  had  induced 
the  belief  that  the  party  was  in  danger  of  losing  its  power 
in  the  State,  and  the  campaign  was  therefore  the  more 
active  and  earnest  on  their  part,  and  their  activity  created 
a corresponding  industry  on  the  part  of  the  other  parties, 
and  the  result  was,  that  for  five  months  the  people  in  all 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


33 


parts  of  the  State  were  kept  in  attendance  night  and  day  upon 
meetings  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  parties,  and  agreeably 
to  the  fears  of  far-seeing  Democrats,  the  Democratic  party 
lost  the  State  election,  notwithstanding  its  candidate  for 
President  carried  it  by  a plurality  of  9,150  over  Fremont, 
while  the  Republican  State  ticket  was  elected  throughout 
by  a plurality  over  the  Democratic  ticket  ranging  from 
4,697,  to  8,191  and  the  Republican  candidate  for  Treasurer 
had  a majority  of  20,213  over  his  Democratic  competitor. 

The  following  is  the  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers, 
members  of  Congress,  and  Presidential  electors: 

Governor. 


Wm.  H.  Bissell,  R 111,466 

Wm.  A.  Richardson,  D 106,769 

Buckner  S.  Morris,  N.  A 19,088 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

John  Wood,  R 110,603 

R.  J.  Hamilton,  D 104,206 

Parmenus  Bond,  N.  A 19,326 

Secretary  of  State. 

O.  M.  Hatch,  R 115,891 

Wm.  H.  Snyder,  D 106,700 

Wm.  H.  Young,  N.  A 18, §92 

Auditor. 

Jesse  K.  Dubois,  R 109,317 

Samuel  K.  Casey,  D 106,286 

Hiram  Barber,  N.  A 20,654 

Treasurer. 

James  Miller,  R 127,715 

John  Moore,  D 107,502 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Wm.  H.  Powell,  R 108,584 

John  H.  St.  Matthew,  D 105,369 

Ezra  Jenkins,  N.  A 20,573 


84 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  B 18,070 

Bichard  S.  Malony,  D 6,227 

B.  D.  Eastman,  N.  A 251 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  B 21,518 

John  Van  Nortwick,  D 9,814 

B.  F.  James,  N.  A 685 

Third  District. 

Owen  Lovejoy,  B 19,068 

Uri  Osgood,  D 18,007 

Fourth  District. 

William  Kellogg,  B 16,175 

Jas.  W.  Davidson,  D 14,474 

A.  H.  Griffith,  N.  A 987 

Fifth  District. 

Jackson  Grimshaw,  B 10,294 

Isaac  N.  Morris,  D 12,059 

James  S.  Irwin,  N.  A 109 

Sixth  District. 

John  Williams,  B 12,077 

Thomas  L.  Harris,  D 14,196 

Seventh  District. 

Henry  P.  H.  Bromwell,  B 9,878 

Aaron  Shaw,  D 12,994 

Eighth  District. 

James  D.  Lansing,  B 7,512 

Bobert  Smith,  D 11;299 

Ninth  District. 

Benjamin  L.  Wiley,  B 3,419 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 15,968 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


35 


Presidential  Electors — Fremont. 

Abraham  Lincoln 

Frederick  Hecker 

Elijah  P.  Terry  

Jerome  J.  Beardsley 

William  Fithian 

T.  Jndson  Hale ^....*93,278 

Abraham  Jonas j 

Wm.  H.  Herndon..,, j 

Friend  S.  Butherford | 

David  L.  Phillips J 


Buchanan. 

Augustus  M.  Herrington 

Chas.  H.  Constable 

Merritt  L.  Joslyn 

Hugh  Maher 

Milton  T.  Peters 

Robert  Holloway 

John  P.  Richmond 

Samuel  W.  Moulton 

Orlando  B.  Ficklin 

Wm.  A.  J.  Sparks. 

John  A.  Logan 


)>  . . .*105,628 


Fillmore. 

Joseph  Gillespie 

Wm.  N.  Danenhower 

Orvil  Miller,  Jr 

Levi  D.  Boone 

Josiah  Snow 

John  Durham 

James  Irwin 

Shelby  M.  Cullom . . . 

John  Coffer 

Joseph  H.  Sloss 

Wm.  H.  Parish 


i 

i 

> ....*37,531 


♦The  records  at  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  show  only  these  fig- 
ures, and  it  is  presumed  that  they  represent  the  highest  number  of  votes 
cast  for  the  respective  electoral  tickets. 


36 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1857. 


Governor — William  H.  Bissell. 

Lieutenant-Governor — John  Wood. 

Secretary  of  State — 0.  M.  Hatch. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Jesse  K.  Dubois. 
Treasurer — James  Miller. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Wm.  H.  Powell. 


Twentieth  General  Assembly. 

The  Twentieth  General  Assembly  convened  January  5, 
and  consisted  of  the  following  members : 


Norman  B.  Judd,  Cook. 
George  Gage,  McHenry. 
Waite  Talcott,  Winnebago. 
J.  H.  Addams,  Stephenson. 
Augustus  Adams,  Kane. 

G.  D.  A.  Parks,  Will. 

B.  C.  Cook,  LaSalle. 

J.  D.  Arnold,  Peoria. 

T.  J.  Henderson,  Stark. 
Wm.  C.  Goudy,  Fulton. 
Hiram  Rose,  Henderson. 
Wm.  H.  Carlin,  Adams. 
Hugh  L.  Sutphin,  Pike. 

House  op 

John  Dougherty,  Union. 
Wesley  Sloan,  Pope. 
Thomas  Jones,  Johnson. 


L.  E.  Worcester,  Greene. 

C.  W.  Vanderen,  Sangamon. 
Joel  S.  Post,  Macon. 

Sam’l  W.  Fuller,  Tazewell. 
Wm.  D.  Watson,  Coles. 
Mortimer  O’Kean,  Jasper. 
Silas  L.  Bryan,  Marion. 
Joseph  Gillespie,  Madison. 
Wm.  H.  Underwood,  St.Clair. 
Sam’l  H.  Martin,  White. 

E.  C.  Coffey,  Washington. 

A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Johnson. 


Representatives. 

E.  C.  Ingersoll,  Gallatin. 
John  A.  Logan,  Jackson. 
Jas.  H.  Watt,  Randolph. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


37 


H.  S.  Osborn,  Washington. 
John  A.  Wilson,  Hamilton. 
W.  B.  Anderson,  Jefferson. 
John  E.  Whiting,  White. 
Charles  P.  Burns,  Wayne. 
Wm.  B.  Morrison,  Monroe. 
Vital  Jarrot,  St.  Clair. 

Wm.  W.  Roman,  St.  Clair. 
Wm.  A.  J.  Sparks,  Clinton. 
Lewis  Ricks,  Madison. 
Aaron  P.  Mason,  Madison. 
Daniel  Gregory,  Fayette. 

F.  D.  Preston,  Richland. 
Isaac  Wilkins,  Crawford. 
Nathan  Willard,  Clark. 

S.  W.  Moulton,  Shelby. 
Calvin  Goudy,  Christian. 

B.  T.  Burke,  Macoupin. 
Wright  Casey,  Jersey.  • 
John  W.  Huitt,  Greene. 
Sam’l  Connelly,  Edgar. 

Jas.  E.  Wyche,  Coles. 

Jas.  J.  Megredy,  Sangamon. 
S.  M.  Cullom,  Sangamon. 
Cyrus  Epler,  Morgan, 

E.  B.  Hitt,  Scott. 

John  L.  Grimes,  Pike. 

King  Kerley,  Brown. 

Samuel  Holmes,  Adams. 

M.  M.  Bane,  Adams. 

L.  D.  Erwin,  Schuyler. 
Wm.  Tyner,  Hancock. 
George  Hire,  McDonough. 
Joseph  Dyckes,  Fulton. 
James  H.  Stipp,  Fulton. 


Samuel  Christy,  Cass. 

A.  W.  Morgan,  Logan. 
Jerome  R.  Gorin,  Macon. 
Oliver  L.  Davis,  Vermilion. 
J.  H.  Wickizer,  McLean. 
Daniel  Trail,  Tazewell. 

A.  V.  T.  Gilbert,  Warren. 
M.  Shallenberger,  Stark. 
John  T.  Lindsey,  Peoria. 
Robert  Boal,  Marshall. 
Elmer  Baldwin,  LaSalle. 
Jas.  N.  Reading,  Grundy. 
John  M.  Crothers,  Kendall. 
Truman  W.  Smith,  Will. 
Franklin  Blades,  Iroquois. 
W.  A.  Chatfield,  Kankakee. 
David  M.  Kelsey,  DeKalb. 
Wm.  R.  Parker,  Kane. 

Geo.  W.  Radcliffe,  Bureau. 
H.  G.  Little,  Henry. 

John  V.  Eustace,  Lee. 
Dan’l  J.  Pinckney,  Ogle. 

C.  B.  Denio,  JoDaviess. 
Rollin  Wheeler,  Carroll. 
John  A.  Davis,  Stephenson. 
Wm.  Lathrop,  Winnebago. 
L.  S.  Church,  McHenry. 

L.  W.  Lawrence,  Boone. 
W.  M.  Burbank,  Lake. 

John  H.  Dunham,  Cook.. 
George  W.  Morris,  Cook. 
Isaac  N.  Arnold,  Cook. 

A.  F.  C.  Mueller,  Cook. 
David  H.  Frisbie,  Knox. 


The  Democrats  had  a majority  in  both  houses.  Lieut. 
Gov.  John  Wood  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate, 
and  Ben.  Bond  was  elected  Secretary  over  E.  T.  Bridges, 
by  a vote  of  13  to  10. 

Samuel  Holmes  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  over 
Isaac  N.  Arnold,  by  a vote  of  36  to  '28,  and  Charles  Lieb 
was  elected  Clerk  over  E.  T.  Bridges,  by  a vote  of  38 
to  29. 


38 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Of  the  prominent  men,  or  those  to  attain  prominence, 
of  the  two  houses,  there  were:  Judd,  Cook,  Henderson, 
Bryan,  Gillespie,  Underwood,  Kuykendall,  Dougherty, 
Sloan,  Ingersoll,  Logan,  Anderson,  Morrison,  Sparks, 
Moulton,  Cullom,  Epler,  0.  L.  Davis,  Blades,  Lathrop, 
Isaac  N.  Arnold. 

The  message  of  Mr.  Matteson,  the  retiring  Governor, 
was  submitted  to  the  two  houses  on  the  6th  of  January. 
Deferring  to  the  condition  of  the  people,  he  said : 

“ Even  in  the  midst  of  adverse  elements,  the  hand 
of  abundance  has  been  opened  upon  the  harvests  of  the 
husbandman.  The  firesides  of  the  humble  have  been  pro- 
tected and  happy,  and  everywhere  throughout  the  State 
labor  is  reaping  a rich  reward. 

“ With  these  sentiments,  and  a deep  sense  of  thankful- 
ness towards  a generous  people  for  the  confidence  so 
freely  extended,  I am  now  about  to  surrender,  with  cheer- 
fulness, to  my  successor  and  to  you,  the  trusts  which  have 
engaged  my  attention  for  the  last  four  years.  I do  this 
the  more  cheerfully  because  I recognize  in  you  and  my 
successor  agents  appointed  by  the  people  to  receive  them, 
and  eminently  qualified  to  keep  and  discharge  them 
faithfully.  I sunder  the  last  official  connections  with  her 
councils  with  emotions  of  no  ordinary  character.  Having 
very  great  confidence  in  the  patriotism  and  capacity  of 
the  distinguished  individual  elected  to  become  my  suc- 
cessor, I invoke  for  you  and  him  harmony  in  council  and 
patriotism  of  purpose/' 

“I  la.y  down  the  cares  of  office  with  cheerfulness,  and 
surrender  the  responsible  interests  of  the  State  into  the 
hands  of  my  successor  and  yourselves,  with  the  prayer 
aqpon  my  heart  that  her  progress  may  continue,  and  her 
people,  for  a long  time  in  the  future,  live  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  republican  freedom,  prosperity  and  happiness.” 

In  his  biennial  message  of  January  3,  1855,  it  was 
shown  that  there  had  been  paid  on  the  principal,  ar- 
rears of  interest  and  interest  during  the  fiscal  years  of 
1853  and  1854,  $3,950,037.96,  and  in  the  message  of 
1857  the  payments  on  the  same  for  the  fiscal  years  of 
1855  and  1856  had  been  $7,079,198.42,  aggregating 
in  the  four  years  $11,029,236.38,  leaving  a balance  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


39 


$12,834,144.85  to  be  paid  by  his  successors.  Gov.  Mat- 
teson’s  administration  had  been  eminently  popular,  and 
notwithstanding  this  great  burden,  the  people  were 
happy,  and  in  a prosperous  condition. 

Owing  to  the  physical  disability  of  Gov.  Bissell,  caused 
by  an  attack  of  paralysis,  the  two  houses  repaired  to  the 
Executive  Mansion  on  the  12th  of  January,  and  in  their 
presence  he  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  at  his  request  his 
message  was  read  to  the  two  houses  on  the  same  day  by 
I.  R.  Dilier.  Mr.  Bissell  recommended  the  erection  of  a 
new  penitentiary ; the  revision  of  the  school  law ; friendly 
legislation  in  the  interest  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
and  paid  a fitting  compliment  to  the  men  who  had  been 
foremost  in  the  inception  of  that  great  enterprise,  in  these 
words : 

“It  is  but  reasonable,  perhaps,  that  I should  here  avail 
myself  of  the  opportunity  of  distinguishing  certain  indi- 
viduals who  were  prominent  in  the  inception  of  this  great 
enterprise.  To  Morris  Ketchum,  George  Griswold,  David  A. 
Neal  and  Jonathan  Sturges,  are  we  mainly  indebted  for  the 
successful  carrying  out  of  this  great  project.  Mr.  Ketchum, 
especially,  was  as  active  as  he  was  efficient  in  organizing 
the  company,  and  in  devising  ways  and  means  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  work.  In  these  things  he  was  ably  sustained 
by  the  other  gentlemen  named.  And  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  when  the  prospects  of  the  enterprise  were  shrouded 
in  gloom  and  doubt,  and  when  nothing  but  the  most  bold 
and  skillful  policy  could  have  saved  it,  these  gentlemen 
risked  their  own  private  means  to  an  extent  which,  had 
the  enterprise  failed,  would  have  involved  some  of  them, 
at  least,  in  irretrievable  ruin.  I take  pleasure,  therefore, 
in  placing  these  gentlemen  before  the  State  in  the  light 
which  I know  is  proper  to  them,  that  our  people  in  future 
may  never  forget  to  whom  they  are  mostly  indebted  for 
the  great  work  of  the  Central  Railroad.” 

The  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  was  then  the  sub- 
ject which  occupied  the  attention  of  the  people  of  the 
State  more  than  all  others,  and  Mr.  Bissell,  having  been 
elected  on  the  Republican  ticket  as  an  anti-Nebraska  Dem- 
ocrat, alluded  to  the  question  in  these  terms : 


40 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ The  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery  into  our  new 
National  territory,  although  not  forming  any  part  of  State 
politics,  was,  nevertheless,  so  prominent  a feature  in  the 
late  canvass,  as  to  create  the  expectation,  perhaps,  that  I 
should,  on  this  occasion,  say  something  concerning  it. 

“Up  to  the  time  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, I had  ever  considered  the  existence  of  slavery  within 
the  United  States  as  an  anomaly  in  our  republican  sys- 
tem, tolerated  by  a necessity  springing  from  the  actual 
presence  of  the  institution  among  us  when  our  Constitu- 
tion was  adopted. 

“ The  provisions  in  the  Constitution  for  a slave  basis  of 
representation,  and  for  the  reclamation  of  fugitives  from 
labor,  I had  supposed,  and  still  suppose,  w7ere  admitted 
there  upon  that  necessity.  And  that  such  were  also  the 
views  of  a vast  majority  of  the  American  people,  both 
North  and  South,  I had,  until  the  introduction  of  the  Kan- 
sas-Nebraska  bill,  never  doubted. 

“But  the  introduction,  progress  and  passage  of  that 
measure,  together  with  the  course  of  argument  made  to 
sustain  it,  forced  me  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion  that, 
if  finally  successful,  slavery  is  no  longer  to  be  considered 
or  treated  as  anomalous  in  our  system,  but  is  rather, 
thenceforward,  to  be  a leading  and  favorite  element  of 
society,  to  be  politically  recognized  as  such,  and  to  which 
all  else  must  bend  and  conform.  This  conclusion  is 
strengthened,  not  a -little,  by  the  subsequent  administration 
of  the  measure,  in  the  same  hands  which  originated  and 
matured  it.  Considering  that  we  are  intelligent  people, 
living  in  an  enlightened  age,  and  professing  the  peaceful 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  a love  of  liberty  above  all 
things  earthly,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether,  when  the 
world’s  history  shall  have  been  written  to  its  close,  it  will 
contain  a more  extraordinary  page  than  that  w7hich  shall 
record  the  history  of  Kansas  in  1855  and  1856. 

“Forced  to  the  conclusion  stated,  a large  portion  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  myself  among  them,  have  resisted  the  con- 
summation as  we  best  could ; and  believing  that  not  the 
fate  of  the  negro  alone,  but  the  liberties  of  the  white 
man,  of  all  men,  are  involved  in  the  issue,  we  shall  con- 
tinue to  resist  according  to  our  best  ability. 

“In  doing  this  we  shall  ever  be  careful  neither  to  forget 
nor  disregard  the  value  of  the  Union,  the  obligations  of 
the  Constitution,  nor  even  the  courtesies  due  our  brethren 
of  the  South.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


41 


The  legislation  of  this  session  was  mainly  directed  in 
the  interest  of  the  several  towns  or  local  communities,  but 
among  the  more  important  laws  enacted  were  the  acts  to 
establish  and  maintain  free  schools ; to  establish  and  main- 
tain a normal  university  at  Bloomington;  to  amend  the 
banking  law;  to  provide  for  a general  system  of  railroad 
incorporations ; to  provide  for  the  incorporation  of  county 
agricultural  societies ; to  fund  the  arrears  of  interest 
accrued  and  unpaid  on  the  public  debt ; to  lease  the  pen- 
itentiary to  Samuel  K.  Casey  for  five  years,  and  to  build 
an  additional  penitentiary,  in  which  David  Y.  Bridges, 
Chauncey  L.  Higbee  and  Nelson  D.  Edwards  were  consti- 
tuted commissioners,  with  full  power  and  authority  to 
select  and  obtain,  by  purchase,  a suitable  site  for  the 
same. 

The  topics  which  claimed  the  time  of  the  House  and 
elicited  the  attention  of  the  people  in  general,  was  the 
discussion  of  the  motion  to  print  20,000  copies  of  Gov. 
Bissell’s  message  for  the  use  of  the  House,  and  a resolu- 
tion to  repeal  the  “black  laws.”  There  had  been  a unani- 
mous vote  in  favor  of  printing  20,000  copies  of  Matteson’s 
message,  in  English,  and  a vote  of  65  ayes  to  4 noes,  in 
favor  of  printing  5,000  copies  in  German,  but  when  it  was 
proposed  to  print  20,000  copies  of  Bissell’s  message,  a 
motion  was  made  to  reduce  the  number  to  10,003.  The 
House  being  Democratic,  and  Mr.  Bissell  having  been 
elected  as  a Republican,  there  was  a strong  disposition  to 
circumscribe  the  publication  of  his  message,  and  the 
motion  to  print  10,000  instead  of  20,000  copies  continued 
the  subject  of  an  angry  debate  for  over  a week,  when,  on 
the  20 ^h  of  January,  the  resolution  passed  in  that  form 
by  a vote  of  41  ayes  to  82  noes. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  Mr.  Kelsey  presented  a peti- 
tion of  the  citizens  of  Illinois,  praying  for  the  repeal  of 
certain  black  laws,  which  was  referred  to  a select  committee 


42 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


of  three,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Kelsey,  Pinckney  and  Wyche. 
February  16,  Mr.  Wyche,  from  a minority  of  the  com- 
mittee to  which  the  petition  had  been  referred,  made  a 
report,  which,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Jarrot,  was  laid  on  the 
table  by  a vote  of  28  ayes  to  42  noes,  which  ended  the 
discussion  on  that  subject. 

A sine  die  adjournment  was  taken  on  February  19. 


CHAPTER  V. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1858, 


Three  Tickets:  Republican  — Democrat— Buchanan  Democrat— Aggregate 
Vote  for  State  Officers— Aggregate  Vote  by  Districts  for  Members  of  Con- 
gress. 


The  Democrats  were  the  first  to  nominate  a State  ticket 
to  be  voted  for  at  the  ensuing  November  election.  The 
convention  was  held  at  Springfield,  on  the  21st  of  April. 
W.  B.  Fondey  was  nominated  for  Treasurer,  and  ex-Gov. 
Augustus  C.  French  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion ; and  although  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  the  very  idol 
of  the  intelligent  portion  of  the  party,  yet  the  conven- 
tion did  not,  in  unmistaken  terms,  condemn  the  admin- 
istration of  Buchanan  for  its  attempt  to  force  Kansas  into 
the  Union  as  a slave  State,  in  opposition  to  the  expressed 
will  of  a majority  of  the  people  of  the  Territory,  nor  did  it 
indorse  Douglas  for  re-election  to  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate for  his  manly  resistance  to  this  great  wrong,  but  left 
him  to  make  the  canvass  as  best  he  could.  But  that  por- 
tion of  the  party  best  known  as  the  office-holders,  were 
not  willing  that  he  should  have  the  race  to  himself,  or 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


43 


that  the  men  nominated  should  be  accepted  as  the  can- 
didates of  the  National  Democratic  party.  They  accord- 
ingly held  an  opposition  convention  in  Springfield,  on  the 
9th  of  May,  and  nominated  John  Dougherty  for  Treasurer, 
and  ex-Gov.  John  Reynolds  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

The  Republicans  met  at  the  same  place,  on  the  15th  of 
June,  and  nominated  James  Miller  for  Treasurer,  and 
Newton  Bateman  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  State  was  thoroughly  canvassed  by  all  the  candi- 
dates, but  it  was  apparent,  from  the  first,  that  the  prime 
object  of  the  Buchanan  faction  was  to  break  down  Douglas. 
They  vigorously  and  bitterly  assaulted  him  from  the  one 
side,  while  Lincoln  pursued  him  with  great  power  and  in- 
imitable ability  on  the  other;  but,  notwithstanding  this 
two-fold  attack,  a legislature  favorable  to  Douglas’  re-elec- 
tion was  chosen,  although  the  Republicans  elected  their 
State  ticket  by  a vote  of  125,430,  as  against  121,609  for  the 
regular  Democratic  ticket.  The  so-called  Nationals  received 
but  5,071  votes.  Not  a single  Buchanan  Democrat  was 
elected  to  either  house,  which  rendered  the  vindication  of 
Douglas  before  the  people  the  more  gratifying  to  his  friends. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers  and  Congressmen, 
by  districts,  is  as  follows: 

Treasurer. 


James  Miller,  R 125,430 

Wm.  B.  Fondey,  D 121,609 

John  Dougherty,  B.  D 5,071 


Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Newton  Bateman,  R 124,556 

Augustus  C.  French,  D 122,413 

John  Reynolds,  B.  D 5,173 


44 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  B 15,811 

Hiram  Bright.  D 6,457 

Bichard  H.  Jackson 370 

Scattering 7 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  B 21,797 

Thomas  Dyer  D 13,198 

B.  F.  Blackburn 701 

Scattering 3 

Third  District. 

Owen  Lovejoy,  B 22,313 

George  W.  Armstrong  D 14,988 

David  Leroy 1,328 

Scattering 14 

Fourth  District. 

William  Kellogg,  B 19,487 

James  W.  Davidson  D 16,860 

Jacob  Gale 553 

Scattering 1 

Fifth  District. 

Isaac  N.  Morris,  D 13,529 

Jackson  Grimshaw  B 11,648 

Jacob  C.  Davis 504 

Sixth  District. 

Thomas  L.  Harris,  D 16,193 

James  H.  Matheny 11,646 

John  L.  McConnel 275 

Scattering 3 

Seventh  District. 

James  C.  Bohinson,  D 13,588 

Bichard  J.  Oglesby  B 11,760 

S.  G.  Baldwin 37 

Scattering 1 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


45 


Eighth  District. 


Phillip  B.  Fouke,  D 11,490 

Jehu  Baker  R 8,410 

Thomas  M.  Hope 198 


Ninth  District. 


John  A.  Logan,  D 15,878 

David  L.  Phillips  R 2,796 

IVm.  K.  Parrish 144 


i 

CHAPTER  VI, 

DOUGLAS  AND  LINCOLN-1858, 


Lincoln’s  Challenge  of  Douglas  for  a Joint  Debate— Douglas’  Reply— Lin- 
coln’s Rejoinder— Debate  at  Freeport. 


The  campaign  between  Douglas  and  Lincoln  for  a seat 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  was  the  most  noted  in  the 
annals  of  the  history  of  any  of  the  States;  and  we  have 
given  precedence  to  the  name  of  Douglas  for  the  reason 
that  at  that  time  he  was  regarded  as  the  foremost  states- 
man in  the  land;  while  the  reputation  of  Lincoln  was 
confined  chiefly  to  his  own  State.  The  character  of  the 
two  men  as  regards  their  prominence  in  the  public  mind 
may  be  better  understood  by  quoting  briefly  from  a speech 
made  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  Springfield,  on  the  evening  of 
the  28th  of  July,  which  is  taken  from  a report  printed  in 
the  State  Register  of  the  following  day.  Referring  to 
Douglas,  he  said:  “All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his 
party  have  been  looking  to  him  as  certainly  at  no  very  distant 


46 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


day  to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States.  They  have 
seen  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful  face,  post-offices,  land- 
offices,  marshalships,  and  cabinet  appointments,  charge- 
ships  and  foreign  missions  bursting  and  spouting  out  in 
wonderful  exuberance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold  of  by  their 
greedy  hands.  And  as  they  have  been  gazing  upon  this 
attractive  picture  so  long,  they  cannot,  in  the  little  dis- 
traction that  has  taken  place  in  the  party,  bring  them- 
selves to  quite  give  up  the  charming  hope;  but  with 
greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him,  give 
him  marches,  triumphal  entries  and  receptions  beyond 
what  even  in  the  days  of  his  highest  prosperity  they  could 
have  brought  about  in  his  favor.  On  the  contrary,  no- 
body has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President. ” Although 
there  is  some  sarcasm  mixed  with  this  allusion  to  Doug- 
las, yet  it  is  evident  that  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  that  his  adver- 
sary possessed  an  advantage  over  him  by  reason  of  his 
National  reputation ; and  it  is  doubtful  if  Lincoln  himself, 
or  any  of  his  warmest  admirers,  had  the  slighest  hope 
that  he  would  ever  rise  to  the  exalted  position  in  which 
Douglas  was  held  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen. 

The  Democratic  party  was  divided.  There  was  the 
Buchanan  Democracy,  and  the  Douglas  Democracy.  The 
Administration  of  Buchanan  had  sought  to  force  Kansas 
into  the  union  of  States  with  a constitution  which  pro- 
tected slavery.  Douglas  had  opposed  this  unjust  policy 
with  manly  courage,  and  the  issue  was  carried  to  Illinois, 
and  on  it  he  made  his  campaign  for  re-election  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  The  office-holders  were  opposed  to 
him,  but  the  untrammeled  masses  of  his  party  were 
almost  to  a man  in  favor  of  his  re-election,  notwithstand- 
ing the  State  convention  had  given  him  only  a half- 
hearted endorsement.  Lincoln,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
been  chosen  by  a State  convention  of  the  Republican 
party  as  their  candidate  for  United  States  Senator,  with 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


47 


the  unqualified  avowal  that  he  was  opposed  to  the  further 
extension  of  slavery.  At  the  convention  which  nominated 
him  for  that  distinguished  trust,  which  was  held  in  Spring- 
field,  that  year,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  the  course  of  an  address 
to  that  body,  gave  utterance  to  these  memorable  words : 
“If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we 
are  tending,  we  could  then  better  judge  what  to  do,  and 
how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a 
policy  was  initiated  with  the  avowed  object  and  confident 
promise  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under 
the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only 
not  cased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion 
it  will  not  cease  until  a crisis  shall  have  been  reached 
and  passed.  ‘A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.' 
I believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved — I do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall— but  I do 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where 
the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the 
course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or,  its  advocates  will  put  it 
forward  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States, 
old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South.  Have  we  no 
tendency  to  the  latter  condition?"  Mr.  Lincoln  had  evi- 
dently been  deeply  impressed  with  the  National  situation 
upon  the  question  of  slavery,  and  while  his  party  had  no 
well  defined  theory  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done  in  the 
premises,  or  what  would  be  the  final  outcome  of  the  mo- 
mentous issue,  yet  he  believed  in  his  own  mind  that  the 
slavery  question  could  not  long  continue  to  agitate  the 
public  mind  in  the  form  it  then  presented  itself,  but  that 
sooner  or  later  a crisis  would  come  which  would  forever 
remove  the  subject  from  controversy  between  the  people 


48 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  the  North  and  South,  and  these  words  were  as  pro- 
phetic as  they  were  significant,  and  showed  conclusively 
that  Lincoln  thought  more  of  the  true  interests  of  his 
country  than  he  did  of  his  personal  advancement  polit- 
ically. 

On  the  24th  of  July,  Lincoln  challenged  Douglas  to  a 
joint  discussion  of  the  issues  between  the  two  parties,  and 
after  some  circumlocution  on  the  part  of  the  great  Sena- 
tor, he  accepted  the  challenge,  suggesting  seven  meetings, 
naming  Ottawa,  Freeport,  Jonesboro,  Charleston,  Gales- 
burg, Quincy  and  Alton,  reserving  for  himself  four  openings 
and  closings.  Lincoln  accepted  the  proposition  without 
delay  and  without  ceremony.  The  debates  were  attended 
by  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people,  many  of  whom 
came  from  neighboring  States,  traveling  hundreds  of  miles 
to  witness  the  intellectual  conflict  between  these  great 
men.  Indeed,  the  contest  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
people  of  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  from  that  time 
to  this  our  State  has  really  been  the  central  figure  in 
National  politics.  This  discussion  even  surpassed  the  cam- 
paign of  Henry  A.  Wise  against  Native  Americanism  in 
Virginia.  While  it  lasted,  many  people  turned  aside  from 
their  daily  pursuits,  and  employed  their  time  in  watching 
and  reading  the  progress  of  this  most  wonderful  and  excit- 
ing contest,  which  opened  at  Ottawa  on  the  21st  of  August, 
and  closed  at  Alton  on  the  15th  of  October,  occupying  a 
period  of  fifty-six  days.  The  debates  were  produced  in 
book-form  under  the  direction  of  their  respective  short- 
hand reporters,  and  we  deem  it  but  fit  that  we  should 
reproduce  one  of  their  joint  discussions  in  full,  that  the 
reader  may  form  a better  idea  of  the  mental  character 
of  these  grand  men  as  they  appeared  before  the  country. 
We  have  selected  the  meeting  which  took  place  at  Free- 
port on  the  27  th  of  August  as  the  one  which  shall  best 
serve  that  purpose,  it  being  their  second  joint  debate. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


49 


The  interrogatories  put  to  Douglas  on  that  occasion  by 
Lincoln  undoubtedly  had  the  effect  to  return  Douglas  to 
the  Senate,  and  make  Lincoln  President. 

Here  is  the  correspondence  which  passed  between  them 
in  relation  to  the  joint  debate  : 

Mr.  Lincoln  to  Mr.  Douglas. 

“Chicago,  III.,  July  24,  1858. 

“Hon.  S.  A.  Douglas — My  Dear  Sir:  Will  it  be  agree- 
able to  you  to  make  an  arrangement  for  you  and  myself 
to  divide  time,  and  address  the  same  audiences  the  pres- 
ent canvass?  Mr.  Judd,  who  will  hand  you  this,  is  author- 
ized to  receive  your  answer;  and,  if  agreeable  to  you,  to 
enter  into  the  terms  of  such  agreement. 

“Your  obedient  servant, 

“A.  Lincoln.” 

Mr.  Douglas  to  Mr.  Lincoln. 

“Chicago,  III.,  July  24,  1858. 

“ Hon.  A.  Lincoln — Dear  Sir .*  Your  note  of  this  date, 
in  which  you  inquire  if  it  would  be  agreeable  to  me  to  make 
an  arrangement  to  divide  the  time  and  address  the  same 
audiences  during  the  present  canvass,  was  handed  me  by 
Mr.  Judd.  Decent  events  have  interposed  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  such  an  arrangement. 

“I  went  to  Springfield  last  week  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ferring with  the  Democratic  State  Central  Committee  upon 
the  mode  of  conducting  the  canvass,  and  with  them,  and 
under  their  advice,  made  a list  of  appointments  covering 
the  entire  period  until  late  in  October.  The  people  of  the 
several  localities  have  been  notified  of  the  times  and  places 
of  the  meetings.  Those  appointments  have  all  been  made 
for  Democratic  meetings,  and  arrangements  have  been 
made  by  which  the  Democratic  candidates  for  Congress, 
for  the  Legislature,  and  other  offices,  will  be  present  and 
address  the  people.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  these 
various  candidates,  in  connection  with  myself,  will  occupy 
the  whole  time  of  the  day  and  evening,  and  leave  no 
opportunity  for  other  speeches. 

“Besides,  there  is  another  consideration  which  should 
be  kept  in  mind.  It  has  been  suggested  recently  that  an 
arrangement  had  been  made  to  bring  out  a third  candi- 
date for  the  United  States  Senate,  who,  with  yourself, 


CO 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


should  canvass  the  State  in  opposition  to  me,  with  no 
other  purpose  than  to  insure  my  defeat,  by  dividing  the 
Democratic  party  for  your  benefit.  If  I should  make  this 
arrangement  with  you,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  this 
other  candidate,  who  has  a common  object  with  you, 
would  desire  to  become  a party  to  it,  and  claim  the  right 
to  speak  from  the  same  stand;  so  that  he  and  you,  in 
concert,  might  be  able  to  take  the  opening  and  closing 
speech  in  every  case. 

“ I cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  surprise,  if  it  was 
your  original  intention  to  invite  such  an  arrangement,  that 
you  should  have  waited  until  after  I had  made  my  appoint- 
ments, inasmuch  as  we  were  both  here  in  Chicago  together 
for  several  days  after  my  arrival,  and  again  at  Blooming- 
ton, Atlanta,  Lincoln  and  Springfield,  where  it  was  well 
known  I went  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  with  the  State 
Central  Committee,  and  agreeing  upon  the  plan  of  the 
campaign. 

“ While,  under  these  circumstances,  I do  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  make  any  arrangements  which  would  deprive  the  Demo- 
cratic candidates  for  Congress,  State  offices,  and  the  Legis- 
lature from  participating  in  the  discussion  at  the  various 
meetings  designated  by  the  Democratic  State  Central  Com- 
mittee, I will,  in  order  to  accommodate  you  as  far  as  it 
is  in  my  power  to  do  so,  take  the  responsibility  of  making 
an  arrangement  with  you  for  a discussion  between  us  at 
one  prominent  point  in  each  Congressional  District  in  the 
State,  except  the  second  and  sixth  districts,  where  we  have 
both  spoken,  and  in  each  of  which  cases  you  had  the  con- 
cluding speech.  If  agreeable  to  you,  I will  indicate  the 
following  places  as  those  most  suitable  in  the  several  Con- 
gressional Districts  at  which  we  should  speak,  to-wit: 
Freeport,  Ottawa,  Galesburg,  Quincy,  Alton,  Jonesboro  and 
Charleston.  I will  confer  with  you  at  the  earliest  con- 
venient opportunity  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  conducting 
the  debate,  the  times  of  meeting  at  the  several  places, 
subject  to  the  condition,  that  where  appointments  have 
already  been  made  by  the  Democratic  State  Central  Com- 
mittee at  any  of  those  places,  I must  insist  upon  you 
meeting  me  at  the  times  specified. 

“Very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

“S.  A.  Douglas.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


51 


Mr.  Lincoln  to  Mr.  Douglas. 

“ Springfield,  July  29,  1858. 

“Hon.  S.  A.  Douglas — Bear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  24th  in 
relation  to  an  arrangement  to  divide  time,  and  address  the 
same  audiences,  is  received : and,  in  apology  for  not  sooner 
replying,  allow  me  to  say,  that  when  I sat  by  you  at  din- 
ner yesterday,  I was  not  aware  that  you  had  answered  my 
note,  nor,  certainly,  that  my  own  note  had  been  presented 
to  you.  An  hour  after,  I saw  a copy  of  your  answer  in 
the  Chicago  Times , and,  reaching  home,  I found  the  orig- 
inal awaiting  me.  Protesting  that  your  insinuations  of 
attempted  unfairness  on  my  part  are  unjust,  and  with  the 
hope  that  you  did  not  very  considerately  make  them,  I 
proceed  to  reply.  To  your  statement  that  Tt  has  been  sug- 
gested, recently,  that  an  arrangement  had  been  made  to 
bring  out  a third  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate, 
who,  with  yourself,  should  canvass  the  State  in  opposition 
to  me/  etc.,  I can  only  say  that  such  suggestion  must 
have  been  made  by  yourself,  for  certainly  none  such  has 
been  made  by  or  to  me,  or  otherwise,  to  my  knowledge. 
Surely  you  did  not  deliberately  conclude,  as  you  insinuate, 
that  I was  expecting  to  draw  you  into  an  arrangement  of 
terms,  to  be  agreed  on  by  yourself,  by  which  a third  can- 
didate and  myself,  ‘in  concert,  might  be  able  to  take  the 
opening  and  closing  speech  in  every  case.’ 

“As  to  your  surprise  that  I did  not  sooner  make  the 
proposal  to  divide  time  with  you,  I can  only  say,  I made 
it  as  soon  as  I resolved  to  make  it.  I did  not  know  but 
that  such  proposal  would  come  from  you.  I waited,  re- 
spectfully, to  see.  It  may  have  been  well  known  to  you 
that  you  went  to  Springfield  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing 
on  the  plan  of  campaign ; but  it  was  not  so  known  to  me. 
When  your  appointments  were  announced  in  the  papers, 
extending  only  to  the  21st  of  August,  I,  for  the  first  time, 
considered  it  certain  that  you  would  make  no  proposal  to 
me,  and  then  resolved  that,  if  my  friends  concurred,  I 
would  make  one  to  you.  As  soon  thereafter  as  I could 
see  and  consult  with  friends  satisfactorily,  I did  make  the 
proposal.  It  did  not  occur  to  me  that  the  proposed  ar- 
rangement could  derange  your  plans  after  the  latest  of 
your  appointments  already  made.  After  that,  there  was, 
before  the  election,  largely  over  two  months  of  clear  time. 

“ For  you  to  state  that  we  have  already  spoken  at  Chicago 
and  Springfield,  and  that  on  both  occasions  I had  the  con- 
cluding speech,  is  hardly  a fair  statement.  The  truth. 


52 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


rather,  is  this:  At  Chicago,  July  9th,  you  made  a care- 
fully prepared  conclusion  on  my  speech  of  June  16th. 
Twenty-four  hours  after,  I made  a hasty  conclusion  on 
yours  of  the  9th.  You  had  six  days  to  prepare,  and  con- 
cluded on  me  again  at  Bloomington  on  the  16th.  Twenty- 
four  hours  after,  I concluded  again  on  you  at  Springfield. 
In  the  meantime,  you  had  made  another  conclusion  on  me 
at  Springfield,  which  I did  not  hear,  and  of  the  contents 
of  which  I knew  nothing  when  I spoke  ; so  that  your  speech 
made  in  daylight,  and  mine  at  night,  of  the  17th,  at  Spring- 
field,  were  both  made  in  perfect  independence  of  each  other. 
The  dates  of  making  all  these  speeches  will  show,  I think, 
that  in  the  matter  of  time  for  preparation,  the  advantage 
has  all  been  on  your  side,  and  that  none  of  the  external 
circumstances  have  stood  to  my  advantage. 

“I  agree  to  an  arrangement  for  us  to  speak  at  the 
seven  places  you  have  named,  and  at  your  own  times, 
provided  you  name  the  times  at  once,  so  that  I,  as  well 
as  you,  can  have  myself  the  time  not  covered  by  the  ar- 
rangement. As  to  the  other  details,  I wish  perfect  reci- 
procity, and  no  more.  I wish  as  much  time  as  you,  and 
that  conclusions  shall  alternate.  That  is  all. 

“Your  obedient  servant, 

“A.  Lincoln.” 

“P.  S.  As  matters  now  stand,  I shall  be  at  no  more 
of  your  exclusive  meetings  ; and  for  about  a week  from 
to-day  a letter  from  you  will  reach  me  at  Springfield. 

“A.  L.” 


Mr.  Douglas  to  Mr.  Lincoln. 

“Bement,  Piatt  Co.,  III.,  July  30.  1858. 

“ Dear  Sir:  Your  letter,  dated  yesterday,  accepting  my 
proposition  for  a joint  discussion  at  one  prominent  point 
in  each  Congressional  District,  as  stated  in  my  previous 
letter,  was  received  this  morning. 

“The  times  and  places  designated  are  as  follows: 
Ottawa,  LaSalle  county,  August  21st,  1858. 

Freeport,  Stephenson  county,  August  27th,  1858. 
Jonesboro,  Union  county,  September  15th,  “ 

Charleston,  Coles  county,  “ 18th,  “ 

Galesburg,  Knox  county,  October  7th,  “ 

Quincy,  Adams  county,  “ 13th,  “ 

Alton,  Madison  county,  “ 15th,  “ 

, “I  agree  to  your  suggestion  that  we  shall  alternately 
open  and  close  the  discussion.  I will  speak  at  Ottawa 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


58 


one  hour,  you  can  reply,  occupying  an  hour  and  a half, 
and  I will  then  follow  for  half  an  hour.  At  Freeport  you 
shall  open  the  discussion,  and  speak  one  hour,  I will  fol- 
low for  an  hour  and  a half,  and  you  can  then  reply  for 
half  an  hour.  We  will  alternate  in  like  manner  in  each 
successive  place. 

“ Yery  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

“S.  A.  Douglas/' 

“Hon.  A.  Lincoln,  Springfield,  111.” 

Mr.  Lincoln  to  Mr.  Douglas. 

“ Springfield,  III.,  July  81,  1858. 

“Hon.  S.  A.  Douglas — Dear  Sir : Yours  of  yesterday, 
naming  places,  times  and  terms,  for  joint  discussions  be- 
tween us,  was  received  this  morning.  Although,  by  the 
terms,  as  you  propose,  you  take  four  openings  and  closings, 
to  my  three , I accede,  and  thus  close  the  arrangement. 
I direct  this  to  you  at  Hillsboro,  and  shall  try  to  have 
both  your  letter  and  this  appear  in  the  Journal  and 
Register  of  Monday  morning. 

“Your  obedient  servant, 

“A.  Lincoln.” 


Second  Joint  Debate  at  Freeport,  August  27,  1858. 
mr.  Lincoln's  speech. 

“Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  On  Saturday  last,  Judge 
Douglas  and  myself  first  met  in  public  discussion.  He 
spoke  one  hour,  I an  hour  and  a half,  and  he  replied  for 
half  an  hour.  The  order  is  now  reversed.  I am  to  speak 
an  hour,  he  an  hour  and  a half,  and  then  I am  to  reply 
for  half  an  hour.  I propose  to  devote  myself  during  the 
first  hour  to  the  scope  of  what  was  brought  within  the 
range  of  his  half  hour's  speech  at  Ottawa.  Of  course 
there  was  brought  within  the  scope  in  that  half  hour’s 
speech  something  of  his  own  opening  speech.  In  the  course 
of  that  opening  argument  Judge  Douglas  proposed  to  me 
seven  distinct  interrogatories.  In  my  speech  of  an  hour 
and  a half,  I attended  to  some  other  parts  of  his  speech, 
and  incidentally,  as  I thought,  answered  one  of  the  inter- 
rogatories then.  I then  distinctly  intimated  to  him  that 
I would  answer  the  rest  of  his  interrogatories  on  condi- 
tion only  that  he  should  agree  to  answer  as  many  for  me. 


.54 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


He  made  no  intimation  at  the  time  of  the  proposition, 
nor  did  he  in  his  reply  allude  at  all  to  that  suggestion 
of  mine.  I do  him  no  injustice  in  saying  that  he  occu- 
pied at  least  half  of  his  reply  in  dealing  with  me  as 
though  I had  refused  to  answer  his  interrogatories.  I now 
propose  that  I will  answer  any  of  the  interrogatories,  upon 
condition  that  he  will  answer  questions  from  me  not  ex- 
ceeding the  same  number.  I give  him  an  opportunity  to 
respond.  The  Judge  remains  silent.  I now  say  that  I 
will  answer  his  interrogatories,  whether  he  answers  mine 
or  not ; and  that  after  I have  done  so,  I shall  propound 
mine  to  him. 

“ I have  supposed  myself,  since  the  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  at  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  bound, 
as  a party  man,  by  the  platforms  of  the  party,  then  and 
since.  If,  in  any  interrogatories  which  I shall  answer, 
I go  beyond  the  scope  of  what  is  within  these  platforms, 
it  will  be  perceived  that  no  one  is  responsible  but  my- 
self. Having  said  this  much,  I will  take  up  the  Judge’s 
interrogatories  as  I find  them  printed  in  the  Chicago 
Times , and  answer  them  seriatim . In  order  that  there 
may  be  no  mistake  about  it,  I have  copied  the  interroga- 
tories in  writing,  and  also  my  answers  to  them.  The 
first  one  of  these  interrogatories  is  in  these  words : ” 

Question  1.  “I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law?” 

Answer.  “I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor 
of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.’’ 

Q.  2.  “I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands 
pledged  to-day,  as  he  did  in  1854,  against  the  admission  of 
any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people 
want  them?” 

A.  “I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against 
the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union.” 

Q.  8.  “I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged 
against  the  admission  of  a new  State  into  the  Union 
with  such  a constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may 
see  fit  to  make  ? ” 

A.  “I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of 
a new  State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a constitution  as 
the  people  of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make.” 

Q.  4.  “I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day, 
pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia?” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


55 


A.  “I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.” 

Q.  5.  “I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands 
pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the 
different  States?” 

A.  “I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  different  States.” 

Q.  6.  “I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States, 
north  as  well  as  south  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line?” 

A.  “1  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a 
belief  in  the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  all  the  United  States  Territories.  ” 

Q.  7.  “ I desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  is  opposed 
to  the  acquisition  of  any  new  territory  unless  slavery  is 
first  prohibited  therein.” 

A.  “ I am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of 
territory;  and,  in  any  given  case,  I would  or  would  not 
oppose  such  acquisition,  accordingly  as  I might  think  such 
acquisition  would  or  would  not  aggravate  the  slavery  ques- 
tion among  ourselves.” 

“Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived,  upon  an  exam- 
ination of  these  questions  and  answers,  that,  so  far,  I have 
only  answered  that  I was  not  pledged  to  this,  that  or  the 
other.  The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to 
ask  me  anything  more  than  this,  and  I have  answered  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  interrogatories,  and  have  answered 
truly  that  I am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the  points 
to  which  I have  answered.  But  I am  not  disposed  to  hang 
upon  the  exact  form  of  his  interrogatory.  I am,  rather, 
disposed  to  take  up  at  least  some  of  these  questions,  and 
state  what  I really  think  upon  them. 

“ As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  I have  never  hesitated  to  say,  and  I do  not  now  hesi- 
tate to  say,  that  I think,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  are  en- 
titled to  a Congressional  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Having  said 
that,  I have  had  nothing  to  say  in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law,  further  than  that  I think  it  should  have 
been  framed  so  as  to  be  free  from  some  of  the  objections 
that  pertain  to  it,  without  lessening  its  efficiency.  And 
inasmuch  as  we  are  not  now  in  an  agitation  in  regard  to 
an  alteration  or  modification  of  that  law,  I would  not  be 
the  man  to  introduce  it  as  a new  subject  of  agitation  upon 
the  general  question  of  slavery. 


56  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

“ In  regard  to  the  other  question,  of  whether  I am  pledged 
to  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union, 
I state  to  you  very  frankly  that  I would  be  exceedingly 
sorry  ever  to  be  put  in  a position  of  having  to  pass  upon 
that  question.  I should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  know  that 
there  would  never  be  another  slave  State  admitted  into  the 
Union;  but,  I must  add,  that  if  slavery  shall  be  kept  out 
of  the  Territories  during  the  territorial  existence  of  any  one 
given  Territory,  and  then  the  people  shall,  having  a fair 
chance  and  a clear  field,  when  they  come  to  adopt  the  con- 
stitution, do  such  an  extraordinary  thing  as  to  adopt  a 
slave  constitution,  uninfluenced  by  the  actual  presence  of 
the  institution  among  them,  I see  no  alternative,  if  we 
own  the  country,  but  to  admit  them  into  the  Union. 

“The  third  interrogatory  is  answered  by  the  answer  to 
the  second,  it  being,  as  I conceive,  the  same  as  the  second. 

“ The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  relation  to  that  I have 
my  mind  distinctly  made  up.  I should  be  exceedingly  glad, 
to  see  slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I 
believe  that  Congress  possesses  the  constitutional  power 
to  abolish  it.  Yet,  as  a member  of  Congress,  I should 
not,  with  my  present  views,  be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  unless  it  would 
be  upon  these  conditions : First , that  the  abolition  should 
be  gradual ; second , that  it  should  be  on  a vote  of  the  ma- 
jority of  qualified  voters  in  the  District;  and  third , that 
compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling  owners.  With 
these  three  conditions,  I confess  I would  be  exceedingly 
glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and,  in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  * sweep 
from  our  capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  Nation.’ 

“In  regard  to  the  fifth  interrogatory,  I must  say  here, 
that  as  to  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade 
between  the  different  States,  I can  truly  answer,  as  I have,, 
that  I am  pledged  to  nothing  about  it.  It  is  a subject  to 
which  I have  not  given  that  mature  consideration  that 
would  make  me  feel  authorized  to  state  a position  so  as 
to  hold  myself  entirely  bound  by  it.  In  other  words,  that 
question  has  never  been  prominently  enough  before  me  to 
induce  me  to  investigate  whether  we  really  have  the  con- 
stitutional power  to  do  it.  I could  investigate  it,  if  I had 
sufficient  time  to  bring  myself  to  a conclusion  upon  that 
subject;  but  I have  not  done  so,  and  I say  so  frankly  to 
you  here,  and  to  Judge  Douglas.  I must  say,  however, 
that  if  I should  be  of  opinion  that  Congress  does  possess 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


57' 


the  constitutional  power  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  among 
the  different  States,  I should  still  not  be  in  favor  of  the 
exercise  of  that  power,  unless  upon  some  conservative 
principle,  as  I conceive  it  akin  to  what  I have  said  in 
relation  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

“My  answer  as  to  whether  I desire  that  slavery  should 
be  prohibited  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States, 
is  full  and  explicit  within  itself,  and  cannot  be  made 
clearer  by  any  comments  of  mine.  So,  I suppose,  in  regard 
to  the  question,  whether  I am  opposed  to  the  acquisition 
of  any  more  territory  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited 
therein,  my  answer  is  such  that  I could  add  nothing  by 
way  of  illustration,  or  making  myself  better  understood, 
than  the  answer  which  I have  placed  in  waiting. 

“Now,  in  all  this  the  Judge  has  me,  and  he  has  me  on 
the  record.  I suppose  he  had  flattered  himself  that  I was 
really  entertaining  one  set  of  opinions  for  one  place  and 
another  set  for  another  place— that  I was  afraid  to  say 
at  one  place  what  I uttered  at  another.  What  I am  say- 
ing here,  I suppose  I say  to  a vast  audience  as  strongly 
tending  to  Abolitionism  as  any  audience  in  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  I believe  I am  saying  that  which,  if  it  would 
be  offensive  to  any  persons  and  render  them  enemies  to 
myself,  would  be  offensive  to  persons  in  this  audience. 

“I  now  proceed  to  propound  to  the  Judge  the  interroga- 
tories, so  far  as  I have  framed  them.  I will  bring  forward 
a new  installment  when  I get  them  ready.  I will  bring 
them  forward  now,  only  reaching  to  number  four.  The 
first  one  is : 

“Question  1.  If  the  people  of  Kansas  shall,  by  means 
entirely  unobjectionable  in  all  other  respects,  adopt  a 
State  constitution,  and  ask  admission  into  the  Union  under 
it,  before  they  have  the  requisite  number  of  inhabitants, 
according  to  the  English  bill — some  ninety-three  thousand 
— will  you  vote  to  admit  them? 

“Q.  2.  Can  the  people  of  a United  States  Territory,  in 
any  lawful  way,  against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the 
formation  of  a State  constitution? 

“Q.  8.  If  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shall 
decide  that  States  cannot  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits, 
are  you  in  favor  of  acquiescing  in,  adopting  and  following 
such  decision  as  a rule  of  political  action? 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ Q.  4.  Are  you  in  favor  of  acquiring  additional  territory, 
in  disregard  of  how  such  acquisition  may  affect  the  Nation 
on  the  slavery  question? 

“As  introductory  to  these  interrogatories  which  Judge 
Douglas  propounded  to  me  at  Ottawa,  he  read  a set  of 
resolutions  which  he  said  Judge  Trumbull  and  myself  had 
participated  in  adopting,  in  the  first  Eepublican  State  Con- 
vention, held  at  Springfield,  in  October,  1854.  He  insisted 
that  I and  Judge  Trumbull,  and  perhaps  the  entire  Eepub- 
lican party,  were  responsible  for  the  doctrines  contained 
in  the  set  of  resolutions  which  he  read,  and  I understand 
that  it  was  from  that  set  of  resolutions  that  he  deduced 
the  interrogatories  which  he  propounded  to  me,  using  these 
resolutions  as  a sort  of  authority  for  propounding  those 
questions  to  me.  Now,  I say  here  to-day,  that  I do  not 
answer  his  interrogatories  because  of  their  springing  at 
all  from  that  set  of  resolutions  which  he  read.  I answered 
them  because  Judge  Douglas  thought  fit  to  ask  them.  I 
do  not  now,  nor  never  did,  recognize  any  responsibility 
upon  myself  in  that  set  of  resolutions.  When  I replied 
to  him  on  that  occasion,  I assured  him  that  I never  had 
anything  to  do  with  them.  I repeat  here  to-day,  that  I 
never,  in  any  possible  form,  had  anything  to  do  with  that 
set  of  resolutions.  It  turns  out,  I believe,  that  those  res- 
olutions were  never  passed  in  any  convention  held  in 
Springfield.  It  turns  out  that  they  were  never  passed  at 
any  convention  or  any  public  meeting  that  I had  any  part 
in.  I believe  it  turns  out,  in  addition  to  all  this,  that 
there  was  not,  in  the  fall  of  1854,  any  convention  holding 
a session  in  Springfield,  calling  itself  a Eepublican  State 
Convention,  yet  it  is  true  there  was  a convention,  or 
assemblage  of  men  calling  themselves  a convention,  at 
Springfield,  that  did  pass  some  resolutions.  But  so  little 
did  I really  know  of  the  proceedings  of  that  convention, 
or  what  set  of  resolutions  they  had  passed,  though  having 
a general  knowledge  that  there  had  been  such  an  assem- 
blage of  men  there,  that  when  Judge  Douglas  read  the 
resolutions,  I really  did  not  know  but  they  had  been  the 
resolutions  passed  then  and  there.  I did  not  question 
that  they  were  the  resolutions  adopted.  For  I could  not 
bring  myself  to  suppose  that  Judge  Douglas  could  say 
wrhat  he  did  upon  this  subject  without  knoiving  that  it  was 
true.  I contented  myself,  on  that  occasion,  with  denying, 
as  I truly  could,  all  connection  with  them,  not  denying 
or  affirming  whether  they  were  passed  at  Springfield. 
Now,  it  turns  out,  that*  he  had  got  hold  of  some  resolutions 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  59 

passed  at  some  convention  or  public  meeting  in  Kane 
county.  I wish  to  say  here,  that  I don’t  conceive 
that,  in  any  fair  and  just  mind,  this  discovery  relieves  me 
at  all.  I had  just  as  much  to  do  with  the  convention  in 
Kane  county  as  that  at  Springfield.  I am  just  as  much 
responsible  for  the  resolutions  at  Kane  county  as  those  at 
Springfield, — the  amount  of  the  responsibility  being  exactly 
nothing  in  either  case, — no  more  than  there  would  be  in 
regard  to  a set  of  resolutions  passed  in  the  moon. 

“I  allude  to  this  extraordinary  matter  in  this  canvass 
for  some  further  purpose  than  anthing  yet  advanced. 
Judge  Douglas  did  not  make  his  statement  upon  that  occa- 
sion as  matters  that  he  believed  to  be  true,  but  he  stated 
them  roundly  as  being  true , in  such  form  as  to  pledge  his 
veracity  for  their  truth.  When  the  whole  matter  turns 
out  as  it  does,  and  when  we  consider  who  Judge  Douglas 
is — that  he  is  a distinguished  Senator  of  the  United  States — 
that  he  has  served  nearly  twelve  years  as  such,  that 
his  character  is  not  at  all  limited  as  an  ordinary  Senator 
of  the  United  States,  but  that  his  name  has  become  of 
world-wide  renown,  it  is  most  extraordinary  that  he  should 
so  far  forget  all  the  suggestions  of  justice  to  an  adversary, 
or  of  prudence  to  himself,  as  to  venture  upon  the  asser- 
tion of  that  which  the  slightest  investigation  would  have 
shown  him  to  be  wholly  false.  I can  only  account  for  his 
having  done  so,  upon  the  supposition  that  that  evil  genius 
which  has  attended  him  through  his  life,  giving  to  him 
an  apparent  astounding  prosperity,  such  as  to  lead  very 
many  good  men  to  doubt  there  being  any  advantage  in 
virtue  over  vice, — I say  I can  only  account  for  it  on  the 
supposition  that  that  evil  genius  has  at  last  made  up  its 
mind  to  forsake  him. 

“And  I may  add,  that  another  extraordinary  feature  of 
the  Judge’s  conduct  in  this  canvass — made  more  extraor- 
dinary by  this  incident — is,  that  he  is  in  the  habit,  in 
almost  all  the  speeches  he  makes,  of  charging  falsehood 
upon  his  adversaries,  myself  and  others.  I now  ask 
whether  he  is  able  to  find  in  anything  that  Judge  Trumbull, 
for  instance,  has  said,  or  in  anything  that  I have  said, 
a justification  at  all  compared  with  what  we  have,  in  this 
instance,  shown  him  capable  of,  for  that  sort  of  vulgarity. 

“I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  charging,  as  a matter  of 
belief  on  my  part,  that,  in  the  introduction  of  the  Ne- 
braska bill  into  Congress,  there  was  a conspiracy  to  make 
slavery  perpetual  and  National.  I have  arranged,  from 
time  to  time,  the  evidence  which  establishes  and  proves 


60 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  truth  of  this  charge.  I recurred  to  this  charge  at. 
Ottawa.  I shall  not  now  have  time  to  dwell  upon  it  at 
any  very  great  length ; but,  inasmuch  as  Judge  Douglas, 
in  his  reply  of  half  an  hour,  made  some  points  upon  me 
in  relation  to  it,  I propose  noticing  a few  of  them.  The 
Judge  insists  that  in  the  first  speech  I made,  in  which  I 
very  distinctly  made  that  charge,  he  thought  for  a good 
while  I was  in  fun ! — that  I was  playful— that  I was  not 
sincere  about  it — and  that  he  only  grew  angry  and  some- 
what excited  when  he  found  that  I insisted  upon  it  as  a 
matter  of  earnestness.  He  says  he  characterized  it  as  a 
falsehood  as  far  as  I implicated  his  moral  character  in  that 
transaction.  Well,  I did  not  know,  till  he  presented  that 
view,  that  I had  implicated  his  moral  character.  He  is 
very  much  in  the  habit,  when  he  argues  me  up  into  a 
position  I never  thought  of  occupying,  of  very  cursorily  say- 
ing he  has  no  doubt  Lincoln  is  'conscientious’  in  saying 
so.  He  should  remember  that  I did  not  know  but  what; 
he  was  altogether  'conscientious’  in  the  matter.  I can 
conceive  it  possible  for  men  to  conspire  to  do  a good 
thing,  and  I really  find  nothing  in  Judge  Douglas’  course 
or  arguments  that  is  contrary  to  or  inconsistent  with  his 
belief  of  a conspiracy  to  nationalize  and  spread  slavery 
as  being  a good  and  blessed  thing,  and  so  I hope  he  will 
understand  that  I do  not  at  all  question  but  that  in  all 
this  matter  he  is  entirely  ‘conscientious.’ 

“But  to  draw  your  attention  to  one  of  the  points  I 
made  in  this  case,  beginning  at  the  beginning  period  when 
the  Nebraska  bill  was  introduced,  or  a short  time  after- 
ward, by  an  amendment,  I believe,  it  was  provided  that 
it  must  be  considered  'the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
this  act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  State  or  Terri- 
tory, or  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  own 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.’  I have  called  his 
attention  to  the  fact  that  when  he  and  some  others  began 
arguing  that  they  were  favoring  an  increased  degree  of 
liberty  to  the  people  in  the  Territories  over  and  above 
what  they  formerly  had  on  the  question  of  slavery,  a ques- 
tion was  raised  whether  the  law  was  enacted  to  give  such 
unconditional  liberty  to  the  people,  and  to  test  the  sin- 
cerity of  this  mode  of  argument,  Mr.  Chase,  of  Ohio, 
introduced  an  amendment,  in  which  he  made  the  law — if 
the  amendment  was  adopted — expressly  declare  that  the 
people  of  the  Territory  should  have  the  power  to  exclude 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


61 


slavery  if  they  saw  fit.  I have  asked  attention,  also,  to 
the  fact  that  Judge  Douglas,  and  those  who  acted  with 
him,  voted  that  amendment  down,  notwithstanding  it 
expressed  exactly  the  thing  they  said  was  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  the  law.  I have  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  in  subsequent  times,  a decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  has  been  made,  in  which  it  has  been  declared  that 
a Territorial  Legislature  has  no  constitutional  right  to 
exclude  slavery.  And  I have  argued  and  said  that  to 
men  who  did  intend  that  the  people  of  the  Territory 
should  have  the  right  to  exclude  slavery  absolutely  and 
unconditionally,  the  voting  down  of  Chase’s  amendment 
is  wholly  inexplicable;  it  is  a puzzle — a riddle.  But  I 
have  said  that  with  men  who  did  not  look  forward  to  such 
a decision,  or  who  had  it  in  contemplation  that  such  a 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  w7ould  or  might  be  made, 
the  voting  down  of  that  amendment  would  be  perfectly 
rational  and  intelligible.  It  would  keep  Congress  from 
coming  in  collision  with  the  decision  when  it  was  made. 
Anybody  can  conceive  that  if  there  was  an  intention  or 
expectation  that  such  a decision  was  to  follow,  it  would 
be  a very  undesirable  party  attitude  to  get  into,  for  the 
Supreme  Court — all,  or  nearly  all,  its  members  belong- 
ing to  the  same  party — to  decide  one  way,  when  the  party 
in  Congress  had  decided  the  other  way.  Hence  it  would 
be  very  rational  for  men  expecting  such  a decision,  to 
keep  the  niche  in  that  law  clear  for  it.  After  pointing 
this  out,  I tell  Judge  Douglas  that  it  looks  to  me  as 
though  here  was  the  reason  why  Chase’s  amendment  was 
voted  down.  I tell  him  that  as  he  did  it,  and  knows  why 
he  did  it,  if  it  was  done  for  a reason  different  from  this, 
he  knows  what  that  reason  was , and  can  tell  us  what  it  was . 
I tell  him,  also,  it  will  be  vastly  more  satisfactory  to  the 
country  for  him  to  give  some  other  plausible,  intelligible 
reason  why  it  was  voted  down,  than  to  stand  upon  his 
dignity  and  call  people  liars.  Well,  on  Saturday  he  did 
make  his  answer,  and  what  do  you  think  it  was?  He 
says  if  I had  only  taken  upon  myself  to  tell  the  whole 
truth  about  that  amendment  of  Chase’s,  no  explanation 
wrould  have  been  necessary  on  his  part— or  words  to  that 
effect.  Now,  I say  here,  that  I am  quite  unconscious  of 
having  suppressed  anything  material  to  the  case,  and  I am 
very  frank  to  admit  if  there  is  any  sound  reason  other 
than  that  which  appeared  to  me  material,  it  is  quite  fair 
for  him  to  present  it.  What  reason  does  he  propose? 
That  when  Chase  came  forward  with  his  amendment 


62 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


expressly  authorizing  the  people  to  exclude  slavery  from 
the  limits  of  every  Territory,  Gen.  Cass  proposed  to  Chase, 
if  he  (Chase)  would  add  to  this  amendment  that  the  peo- 
ple should  have  the  power  to  introduce  or  exclude,  they 
would  let  it  go.  This  is  substantially  all  of  his  reply. 
And  because  Chase  would  not  do  that,  they  voted  his 
amendment  down.  Well,  it  turns  out,  I believe,  upon 
examination,  that  Gen.  Cass  took  some  part  in  the  little 
running  debate  upon  that  amendment,  and  then  ran  away 
and  did  not  vote  on  it  at  all.  Is  not  that  the  fact?  So 
confident,  as  I think,  was  Gen.  Cass  that  there  was  a 
snake  somewhere  about,  he  chose  to  run  away  from  the 
whole  thing.  This  is  an  inference  I draw  from  the  fact 
that,  though  he  took  part  in  the  debate,  his  name  does 
not  appear  in  the  ayes  and  noes.  But  does  Judge  Doug- 
las’ reply  amount  to  a satisfactory  answer?  (Cries  of 
“yes!”  “yes!”  and  “no!”  “no!”)  There  is  some  lit- 
tle difference  of  opinion  here.  But  I ask  attention  to  a 
few  more  views  bearing  on  the  question  of  whether  it 
amounts  to  a satisfactory  answer.  The  men  who  were 
determined  that  that  amendment  should  not  get  into  the 
bill  and  spoil  the  place  where  the  Dred  Scott  decision 
was  to  come  in,  sought  an  excuse  to  get  rid  of  it  some- 
where. One  of  these  ways — one  of  these  excuses — was  to 
ask  Chase  to  add  to  his  proposed  amendment  a provision 
that  the  people  might  introduce  slavery  if  they  wanted  to. 
They  very  well  knew  Chase  would  do  no  such  thing — that 
Mr.  Chase  was  one  of  the  men  differing  from  them  on 
the  broad  principle  of  his  insisting  that  freedom  was  bet- 
ter than  slavery, — a man  who  would  not  consent  to  enact 
a law,  penned  with  his  own  hand,  by  which  he  was  made  to 
recognize  slavery  on  the  one  hand  and  liberty  on  the 
other,  as  precisely  equal ; and  when  they  insisted  on  his 
doing  this  they  very  well  knew  they  insisted  on  that 
which  he  would  not  for  a moment  think  of  doing,  and 
that  they  were  only  bluffing  him.  I believe  (I  have  not, 
since  he  made  his  answer,  had  a chance  to  examine  the 
journals  or  Congressional  Globe , and  therefore  speak  from 
memory) — I believe  the  state  of  the  bill  at  that  time, 
according  to  parliamentary  rules,  was  such  that  no  mem- 
ber could  propose  an  additional  amendment  to  Chase’s 
amendment.  I rather  think  this  is  the  truth — the  Judge 
shakes  his  head.  Very  well.  I would  like  to  know,  then, 
if  they  wanted  Chase's  amendment  fixed  over , why  somebody 
else  could  not  have  offered  to  do  it*}  If  they  wanted  it 
amended,  why  did  they  not  offer  the  amendment?  Why 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


63 


did  they  stand  there  taunting  and  quibbling  at  Chase? 
Why  did  they  not  put  it  in  themselves  ? But  to  put  it  on 
the  other  ground : suppose  that  there  was  such  an  amend- 
ment offered,  and  Chase’s  was  an  amendment  to  an 
amendment;  until  one  is  disposed  of  by  parliamentary 
law  you  can  not  pile  another  on.  Then  all  these  gentle- 
men had  to  do  was  to  vote  Chase’s  on,  and  then  in  the 
amended  form  in  which  the  whole  stood  add  their  own 
amendment  to  it,  if  they  wanted  to  put  it  in  that  shape. 
This  was  all  they  were  obliged  to  do,  and  the  ayes  and 
noes  show  that  there  were  thirty-six  who  voted  it  down, 
against  ten  who  voted  in  favor  of  it.  The  thirty-six  held 
entire  sway  and  control.  They  could,  in  some  form  or 
other,  have  put  that  bill  in  the  exact  shape  they  wanted. 
If  there  was  a rule  preventing  their  amending  it  at  the 
time,  they  could  pass  that,  and  then,  Chase’s  amendment 
being  merged,  put  it  in  the  shape  they  wanted.  They 
did  not  choose  to  do  so,  but  they  went  into  a quibble 
with  Chase  to  get  him  to  add  what  they  knew  he  would 
not  add,  and  because  he  would  not,  they  stood  upon  that 
flimsy  pretext  for  voting  down  what  they  argued  was  the 
meaning  and  intent  of  their  own  bill.  They  left  room 
thereby  for  this  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  goes  very  far 
to  make  slavery  national  throughout  the  United  States. 

“I  pass  one  or  two  points  I have  because  my  time  will 
very  soon  expire,  but  I must  be  allowed  to  say  that  Judge 
Douglas  recurs  again,  as  he  did  upon  one  or  two  other 
occasions,  to  the  enormity  of  Lincoln — an  insignificant  indi- 
vidual like  Lincoln — upon  his  ipse  dixit  charging  a con- 
spiracy upon  a large  number  of  members  of  Congress,  the 
Supreme  Court  and  two  Presidents,  to  nationalize  slavery ! 
I want  to  say  that,  in  the  first  place,  I have  made  no 
charge  of  this  sort  upon  my  ipse  dixit . I have  only 
arrayed  the  evidence  tending  to  prove  it,  and  presented 
it  to  the  understanding  of  others,  saying  what  I think  it 
proves,  but  giving  you  the  means  of  judging  whether  it 
proves  it  or  not.  This  is  precisely  what  I have  done.  I 
have  not  placed  it  upon  my  ipse  dixit  at  all.  On  this 
occasion,  I wish  to  recall  his  attention  to  a piece  of  evi- 
dence which  I brought  forward  at  Ottawa  on  Saturday, 
showing  that  he  made  substantially  the  same  charge 
against  substantially  the  same  persons , excluding  his  dear 
self  from  the  category.  I ask  him  to  give  some  attention 
to  the  evidence  which  I brought  forward,  that  he  himself 
had  discovered  a ‘fatal  blow  being  struck’  against  the 
right  of  the  people  to  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits, 


64 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS 


which  fatal  blow  he  assumed  as  evidence  in  an  article  in 
the  Washington  Union,  published  ‘by  authority.’  I ask 
by  whose  authority?  He  discovered  a similar  or  identical 
provision  in  the  Lecompton  constitution.  Made  by  whom  ? 
The  framers  of  that  constitution.  Advocated  by  whom? 
By  all  the  members  of  the  party  in  the  Nation,  who 
advocated  the  introduction  of  Kansas  into  the  Union 
under  the  Lecompton  constitution. 

“I  have  asked  his  attention  to  the  evidence  that  he 
arrayed  to  prove  that  such  a fatal  blow  was  being  struck, 
and  to  the  facts  which  he  brought  forward  in  support  of 
that  charge — being  identical  with  the  one  which  he  thinks 
so  villainous  in  me.  He  pointed  it  not  at  a newspaper 
editor  merely,  but  at  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  and 
the  members  of  Congress  advocating  the  Lecompton  con- 
stitution and  those  framing  that  instrument.  I must 
again  *be  permitted  to  remind  him,  that  although  my  ipse 
clixit  may  not  be  as  great  as  his,  yet  it  somewhat  reduces 
the  force  of  his  calling  my  attention  to  the  enormity  of 
my  making  a like  charge  against  him. 

“Go  on,  Judge  Douglas.” 

MR.  DOUGLAS’  SPEECH. 

“Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  silence  with  which  you 
have  listened  to  Mr.  Lincoln  during  his  hour  is  creditable 
to  this  vast  audience,  composed  of  men  of  various*  po- 
litical parties.  Nothing  is  more  honorable  to  any  large 
mass  of  people  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  a fair  discus- 
sion, than  that  kind  and  respectful  attention  that  is 
yielded  not  only  to  your  political  friends,  but  to  those 
who  are  opposed  to  you  in  politics. 

“ I am  glad  that  at  last  I have  brought  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  better  define  his  position 
on  certain  political  questions  to  which  I called  his  atten- 
tion at  Ottawa.  He  there  showed  no  disposition,  no  in- 
clination to  answer  them.  I did  not  present  idle  questions 
for  him  to  answer  merely  for  my  gratification.  I laid  the 
foundation  for  those  interrogatories  by  showing  that  they 
constituted  the  platform  of  the  party  whose  nominee  he 
is  for  the  Senate.  I did  not  presume  that  I had  the 
right  to  catechise  him  as  I saw  proper,  unless  I showed 
that  his  party,  or  a majority  of  it,  stood  upon  the  plat- 
form, and  were  in  favor  of  the  propositions  upon  which 
my  questions  were  based.  I desired  simply  to  know,  in- 
asmuch as  he  had  been  nominated  as  the  first,  last  and 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


65 


only  choiee  of  his  party,  whether  he  concurred  in  the 
platform  which  that  party  had  adopted  for  its  govern- 
ment. In  a few  moments  I will  proceed  to  review  the 
answers  which  he  has  given  to  these  interrogatories ; but 
in  order  to  relieve  his  anxiety,  I will  first  respond  to  these 
which  he  has  presented  to  me.  Mark  you,  he  has  not 
presented  interrogatories  which  have  ever  received  the 
sanction  of  the  party  with  which  I am  acting,  and  hence 
he  has  no  other  foundation  for  them  than  his  own  curiosity. 

“ First,  he  desires  to  know  if  the  people  of  Kansas  shall 
form  a constitution  by  means  entirely  proper  and  unob- 
jectionable and  ask  admission  into  the  Union  as  a State, 
before  they  have  the  requisite  population  for  a member 
of  Congress,  whether  I will  vote  for  that  admission.  Well, 
now,  I regret  exceedingly  that  he  did  not  answer  that  inter- 
rogatory himself  before  he  put  it  to  me,  in  order  that  we 
might  understand,  and  not  be  left  to  infer,  on  which  side 
he  is.  Mr.  Trumbull,  during  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
voted  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  against  the  admission 
of  Oregon,  although  a free  State,  because  she  had  not  the 
requisite  population  for  a member  of  Congress.  Mr.  Trum- 
bull would  not  consent,  under  any  circumstances,  to  let 
a State,  free  or  slave,  come  into  the  Union  until  it  had 
the  requisite  population.  As  Mr.  Trumbull  is  in  the  field, 
fighting  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  I would  like  to  have  Mr.  Lincoln 
answTer  his  own  question  and  tell  me  whether  he  is  fight- 
ing Trumbull  on  that  issue  or  not.  But  I will  answer  his 
question.  In  reference  to  Kansas,  it  is  my  opinion,  that 
as  she  has  population  enough  to  constitute  a slave  State, 
she  has  population  enough  for  a free  State.  I will  not 
make  Kansas  an  exceptional  case  to  the  other  States  of 
the  Union.  I hold  it  to  be  a sound  rule  of  universal  appli- 
cation to  require  a Territory  to  contain  the  requisite  pop- 
ulation for  a member  of  Congress,  before  it  is  admitted 
as  a State  into  the  Union.  I made  that  proposition  in  the 
Senate  in  1856,  and  I renewed  it  during  the  last  session, 
in  a bill  providing  that  no  Territory  of  the  United  States 
should  form  a constitution  and  apply  for  admission  until 
it  had  the  requisite  population.  On  another  occasion  I 
proposed  that  neither  Kansas,  or  any  other  Territory,  should 
be  admitted  until  it  had  the  requisite  population.  Con- 
gress did  not  adopt  any  of  my  propositions  containing 
this  general  rule,  but  did  make  an  exception  of  Kansas. 
I will  stand  by  that  exception.  Either  Kansas  must  come 
in  as  a free  State,  with  whatever  population  she  may  have, 
— 5 


66 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


or  the  rule  must  be  applied  to  all  the  other  Territories 
alike.  I therefore  answer  at  once,  that  it  having  been 
decided  that  Kansas  has  population  enough  for  a slave 
State,  I hold  that  she  has  enough  for  a free  State.  I 
hope  Mr.  Lincoln  is  satisfied  with  my  answer;  and  now 
I would  like  to  get  his  answer  to  his  own  interrogatory — 
whether  or  not  he  will  vote  to  admit  Kansas  before  she 
has  the  requisite  population.  I want  to  know  whether  he 
will  vote  to  admit  Oregon  before  that  Territory  has  the 
requisite  population.  Mr.  Trumbull  will  not,  and  the  same 
reason  that  commits  Mr.  Trumbull  against  the  admission 
of  Oregon,  commits  him  against  Kansas,  even  if  she  should 
apply  for  admission  as  a free  State.  If  there  is  any  sin- 
cerity, any  truth,  in  the  argument  of  Mr.  Trumbull  in  the 
Senate,  against  the  admission  of  Oregon  because  she  had 
not  98,420  people,  although  her  population  was  larger 
than  that  of  Kansas,  he  stands  pledged  against  the  admis- 
sion of  both  Oregon  and  Kansas  until  they  have  98,420 
inhabitants.  I would  like  Mr.  Lincoln  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion. I would  like  him  to  take  his  own  medicine.  If  he 
differs  with  Mr.  Trumbull,  let  him  answer  his  argument 
against  the  admission  of  Oregon,  instead  of  poking  ques- 
tions at  me. 

“ The  next  question  propounded  to  me  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
is,  can  the  people  of  a Territory,  in  any  lawful  way,  against 
the  wishes  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude 
slavery  from  their  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a State 
constitution?  I answer  emphatically,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  has 
heard  me  answer  a hundred  times  from  every  stump  in 
Illinois,  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  people  of  a Territory  can, 
by  lawful  means,  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits  prior 
to  the  formation  of  a State  constitution.  Mr.  Lincoln 
knew  that  I had  answered  that  question  over  and  over 
again.  He  heard  me  argue  the  Nebraska  bill  on  that 
principle  all  over  the  State  in  1854,  in  1855,  and  in  1856, 
and  he  has  no  excuse  for  pretending  to  be  in  doubt  as  to 
my  position  on  that  question.  It  matters  not  what  way 
the  Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide  as  to  the  abstract 
question  whether  slavery  may  or  may  not  go  into  a Ter- 
ritory under  the  constitution,  the  people  have  the  lawful 
means  to  introduce  it  or  exclude  it,  as  they  please,  for  the 
reason  that  slavery  can  not  exist  a day,  or  an  hour,  any- 
where, unless  it  is  supported  by  local  police  regulations. 
Those  police  regulations  can  only  be  established  by  the 
local  legislature,  and  if  the  people  are  opposed  to  slavery 
they  will  elect  representatives  to  that  body  who  will,  by 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


67 


unfriendly  legislation  effectually  prevent  the  introduction 
of  it  into  their  midst.  If,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  for 
it,  their  legislation  will  favor  its  extension.  Hence,  no 
matter  what  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  may  be 
on  that  abstract  question,  still  the  right  of  the  people  to 
make  a slave  Territory  or  a free  Territory  is  perfect  and 
complete  under  the  Nebraska  bill.  I hope  Mr.  Lincoln 
deems  my  answer  satisfactory  on  that  point. 

“ In  this  connection,  I will  notice  the  charge  which  he 
has  introduced  in  relation  to  Mr.  Chase’s  amendment.  I 
thought  I had  chased  that  amendment  out  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln’s brain  at  Ottawa;  but  it  seems  that  still  haunts  his 
imagination,  and  he  is  not  yet  satisfied.  I had  supposed 
that  he  would  be  ashamed  to  press  that  question  further. 
He  is  a lawyer,  and  has  been  a member  of  Congress,  and 
has  occupied  his  time  and  amused  you  by  telling  you 
about  parliamentary  proceedings.  He  ought  to  have  known 
better  than  to  try  to  palm  off  his  miserable  impositions 
upon  this  intelligent  audience.  The  Nebraska  bill  provided 
that  the  legislative  power  and  authority  of  the  said  Terri- 
tory should  extend  to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation 
consistent  with  the  organic  act  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  It  did  not  make  any  exception  as  to 
slavery,  but  gave  all  the  power  that  it  was  possible  for 
Congress  to  give,  without  violating  the  Constitution,  to  the 
Territorial  Legislature,  with  no  exception  or  limitation  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  at  all.  The  language  of  that  bill, 
which  I have  quoted,  gave  the  full  power  and  the  full 
authority  over  the  subject  of  slavery,  affirmatively  and 
negatively,  to  introduce  it  or  exclude  it,  so  far  as  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  would  permit.  What  more 
could  Mr.  Chase  give  by  his  amendment?  Nothing.  He 
offered  his  amendment  for  the  identical  purpose  for  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  using  it — to  enable  demagogues  in  the 
country  to  try  and  deceive  the  people. 

“His  amendment  was  to  this  effect:  It  provided  that 
the  Legislature  should  have  the  power  to  exclude  slavery ; 
and  Gen.  Cass  suggested,  ‘Why  not  give  the  power  to 
introduce  as  well  as  exclude?’  The  answer  was,  they  have 
the  power  already  in  the  bill  to  do  both.  Chase  was  afraid 
his  amendment  would  be  adopted  if  he  put  the  alterna- 
tive proposition  and  so  make  it  fair  both  ways,  but  would 
not  yield._  He  offered  it  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  re- 
jected. He  offered  it,  as  he  has  himself  avowed  over  and 
over  again,  simply  to  make  capital  out  of  it  for  the  stump. 
He  expected  that  it  would  be  capital  for  small  politicians 


68 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


in  the  country,  and  that  they  would  make  an  effort  to 
deceive  the  people  with  it,  and  he  was  not  mistaken,  for 
Lincoln  is  carrying  out  the  plan  admirably.  Lincoln 
knows  that  the  Nebraska  bill,  without  Chase’s  amend- 
ment, gave  all  the  power  which  the  Constitution  would 
permit.  Could  Congress  confer  any  more?  Could  Con- 
gress go  beyond  the  Constitution  of  the  country?  We 
gave  all  a full  grant,  with  no  exception  in  regard  to 
slavery  one  way  or  the  other.  We  left  that  question  as 
we  left  all  others,  to  be  decided  by  the  people  for  them- 
selves, just  as  they  pleased.  I will  not  occupy  my  time 
on  this  question.  I have  argued  it  before  all  over  Illi- 
nois. I have  argued  it  in  this  beautiful  city  of  Freeport ; 
I have  argued  it  in  the  North,  the  South,  the  East,  and 
the  West,  avowing  the  same  sentiments  and  the  same 
principles.  I have  not  been  afraid  to  avow  my  sentiments 
up  here  for  fear  I would  be  trotted  down  into  Egypt. 

“ The  third  question  which  Mr.  Lincoln  presented  is, 
if  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  shall  decide 
that  a State  of  this  Union  cannot  exclude  slavery  from 
its  own  limits,  will  I submit  to  it?  I am  amazed  that 
Lincoln  should  ask  such  a question.  (‘  A school-boy  knows 
better.’)  Yes,  a school-boy  does  know  better.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln’s object  is  to  cast  an  imputation  upon  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  knows  that  there  never  was  but  one  man  in 
America  claiming  any  degree  of  intelligence  or  decency, 
who  ever  for  a moment  pretended  such  a thing.  It  is 
true  that  the  Washington  Union , in  an  article  published 
on  the  17th  of  last  December,  did  put  forth  that  doctrine, 
and  I denounced  the  article  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
in  a speech  which  Mr.  Lincoln  now  pretends  was  against 
the  President.  The  Union  had  claimed  that  slavery  had 
a right  to  go  into  the  free  States,  and  that  any  provision 
in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the  free  States  to  the  con- 
trary were  null  and  void.  I denounced  it  in  the  Senate, 
as  I said  before,  and  I was  the  first  man  who  did.  Lin- 
coln’s friends,  Trumbull,  and  Seward,  and  Hale,  and  Wil- 
son, and  the  whole  Black  Kepublican  side  of  the  Senate, 
were  silent.  They  left  it  to  me  to  denounce  it,  and  what  was 
the  reply  made  to  me  on  that  occasion?  Mr.  Toombs, 
of  Georgia,  got  up  and  undertook  to  lecture  me  on  the 
ground  that  I ought  not  to  have  deemed  the  article  worthy 
of  notice,  and  ought  not  to  have  replied  to  it ; that  there 
was  not  one  man,  woman  or  child  south  of  the  Potomac, 
in  any  slave  State,  who  did  not  repudiate  any  such  pre- 
tension. Mr.  Lincoln  knows  that  that  reply  was  made 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


69 


on  the  spot,  and  yet  now  he  asks  this  question.  He 
might  as  well  ask  me,  suppose  Mr.  Lincoln  should  steal 
a horse,  would  I sanction  it;  and  it  would  be  as  genteel 
in  me  to  ask  him,  in  the  event  he  stole  a horse,  what 
ought  to  be  done  with  him.  He  casts  an  imputation  upon 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  by  supposing 
that  they  would  violate  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  I tell  him  that  such  a thing  is  not  possible.  It 
would  be  an  act  of  moral  treason  that  no  man  on  the 
bench  could  ever  descend  to.  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  would 
never,  in  his  partisan  feelings,  so  far  forget  what  was 
right  as  to  be  guilty  of  such  an  act.  The  fourth  question 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  is,  are  you  in  favor  of  acquiring  additional 
territory,  in  disregard  as  to  how  such  acquisition  may 
affect  the  Union  on  the  slavery  question?  This  question 
is  very  ingeniously  and  cunningly  put. 

“The  Black  Republican  creed  lays  it  down  expressly, 
that  under  no  circumstances  shall  we  acquire  any  more 
territory  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  in  the  country. 
I ask  Mr.  Lincoln  whether  he  is  in  favor  of  that  propo- 
sition. Are  you  (addressing  Mr.  Lincoln)  opposed  to  the 
acquisition  of  any  more  territory,  under  any  circumstances, 
unless  slavery  is  prohibited  in  it?  That  he  does  not  like 
to  answer.  When  I ask  him  whether  he  stands  up  to  that 
article  in  the  platform  of  his  party,  he  turns,  Yankee 
fashion,  and  without  answering  it,  asks  me  whether  I am 
in  favor  of  acquiring  territory  without  regard  to  how  it 
may  affect  the  Union  on  the  slavery  question.  I answer, 
that  whenever  it  becomes  necessary,  in  our  growth  and 
progress,  to  acquire  more  territory,  that  I am  in  favor  of 
it,  without  reference  to  the  question  of  slavery,  and  when 
we  have  acquired  it  I will  leave  the  people  free  to  do  as 
they  please,  either  to  make  it  slave  or  free  territory,  as 
they  prefer.  It  is  idle  to  tell  me  or  you  that  we  have 
territory  enough.  Our  fathers  supposed  that  we  had  enough 
when  our  territory  extended  to  the  Mississippi  river,  but 
a few  years’  growth  and  expansion  satisfied  them  that  we 
needed  more,  and  the  Louisiana  territory,  from  the  west 
branch  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  British  possessions,  was 
acquired.  Then  we  acquired  Oregon,  then  California  and 
New  Mexico.  We  have  enough  now  for  the  present,  but 
this  is  a young  and  growing  Nation.  It  swarms  as  often 
as  a hive  of  bees,  and  as  new  swarms  are  turned  out 
each  year,  there  must  be  hives  in  which  they  can  gather 
and  make  their  honey.  In  less  than  fifteen  years,  if  the 
same  progress  that  has  distinguished  this  country  for  the 


70 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


last  fifteen  years  continues,  every  foot  of  vacant  land  be- 
tween this  and  the  Pacific  ocean,  owned  by  the  United 
States,  will  be  occupied.  Will  you  not  continue  to  increase 
at  the  end  of  fifteen  years  as  well  as  now?  I tell  you, 
increase,  and  multiply,  and  expand,  is  thq  law  ©f  this 
Nation’s  existence.  You  cannot  limit  this  great  Republic 
by  mere  boundary  lines,  saying,  ‘thus  far  shalt  thou  go 
and  no  farther.’  Any  one  of  you  gentlemen  might  as  well 
say  to  a son  twelve  years  old  that  he  is  big  enough,  and 
must  not  grow  any  larger,  and  in  order  to  prevent  his 
growth  put  a hoop  around  him  to  keep  him  to  his  present 
size.  What  would  be  the  result?  Either  the  hoop  must 
burst  and  be  rent  asunder,  or  the  child  must  die.  So  it 
would  be  with  this  great  Nation.  With  our  natural  in- 
crease, growing  with  a rapidity  unknown  in  any  other  part 
of  the  globe,  with  the  tide  of  emigration  that  is  fleeing 
from  despotism  in  the  old  world  to  seek  refuge  in  our  own, 
there  is  a constant  torrent  pouring  into  this  country  that 
requires  more  land,  more  territory  upon  which  to  settle, 
and  just  as  fast  as  our  interests  and  our  destiny  require 
additional  territory  in  the  North,  in  the  South,  or  on  the 
islands  of  the  ocean,  I am  for  it;  and  when  we  acquire 
it,  will  leave  the  people,  according  to  the  Nebraska  bill, 
free  to  do  as  they  please  on  the  subject  of  slavery  and 
every  other  question. 

“I  trust  now  that  Mr.  Lincoln  will  deem  himself 
answered  on  his  four  points.  He  racked  his  brain  so  much 
in  devising  these  four  questions  that  he  exhausted  him- 
self, and  had  not  strength  enough  to  invent  others.  As 
soon  as  he  is  able  to  hold  a counsel  with  his  advisers — 
Lovejoy,  Farnsworth,  and  Fred.  Douglass,  he  will  frame 
and  propound  others.  (‘Good,  good.’)  You  Black  Re- 
publicans who  say  good,  I have  no  doubt  think  that  they 
are  all  good  men.  I have  reason  to  recollect  that  some 
people  in  this  country  think  that  Fred.  Douglass  is  a very 
good  man.  The  last  time  I came  here  to  make  a speech, 
while  talking  from  the  stand  to  you  people  of  Freeport, 
as  I am  doing  to-day,  I saw  a carriage,  and  a magnifi- 
cent one  it  was,  drive  up  and  take  a position  on  the  out- 
side of  the  crowd,  a beautiful  young  lady  was  sitting  on 
the  box-seat,  whilst  Fred.  Douglass  and  the  lady’s  mother 
reclined  inside,  and  the  owner  of  the  carriage  acted  as 
driver.  I saw  this  in  your  owTn  town.  (‘What  of  it?’) 
All  I have  to  say  of  it  is  this,  that  if  you  Black  Repub- 
licans think  that  the  negro  ought  to  be  on  a social 
equality  with  your  wives  and  daughters,  and  ride  in  a 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


71 


carriage  with  your  wife  whilst  you  drive  the  team,  you 
have  a perfect  right  to  do  so.  I am  told  that  one  of 
Fred.  Douglass’  kinsmen,  another  rich  black  negro,  is  now 
traveling  in  this  part  of  the  State  making  speeches  for  his 
friend  Lincoln  as  the  champion  of  the  black  men. 
(‘What  have  you  to  say  against  it?’)  All  I have  to  say 
on  that  subject  is,  that  those  of  you  who  believe  that  the 
negro  is  your  equal  and  ought  to  be  on  an  equality  with 
you  socially,  politically  and  legally,  have  a right  to  enter- 
tain those  opinions,  and,  of  course,  will  vote  for  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

“I  have  a wTord  to  say  on  Mr.  Lincoln’s  answer  to  the 
interrogatories  contained  in  my  speech  at  Ottawa,  and 
which  he  has  pretended  to  reply  to  here  to-day.  Mr. 
Lincoln  makes  a great  parade  of  the  fact  that  I quoted 
a platform  as  having  been  adopted  by  the  Black  Repub- 
lican party  at  Springfield,  in  1854,  which,  it  turns  out, 
was  adopted  at  another  place.  Mr.  Lincoln  loses  sight 
of  the  thing  itself  in  his  ecstacies  over  the  mistake  I made 
in  stating  the  place  where  it  was  done.  He  thinks  that 
that  platform  was  not  adopted  on  the  right  ‘spot.’ 

“When  I put  the  direct  question  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  to 
ascertain  whether  he  now  stands  pledged  to  that  creed — 
to  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  a 
refusal  to  admit  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union, 
oven  if  the  people  want  them,  a determination  to  apply 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  not  only  to  all  the  territory  we  now 
have,  but  all  that  we  may  hereafter  acquire — he  refused 
fo  answer,  and  his  followers  say,  in  excuse,  that  the  reso- 
lutions upon  which  I based  my  interrogatories  were  not 
adopted  at  the  ‘ right  spot .’  Lincoln  and  his  political 
friends  are  great  on  ‘ spots .’  In  Congress,  as  a represent- 
ative of  this  State,  he  declared  the  Mexican  war  to  be 
unjust  and  infamous,  and  would  not  support  it,  or  ac- 
knowledge his  own  country  to  be  right  in  the  contest, 
because,  he  said,  that  American  blood  was  not  shed  on 
American  soil  in  the  Wight  spot .’  And  now  he  cannot 
answer  the  questions  I put  to  him  at  Ottawa  because  the 
resolutions  I read  were  not  adopted  at  the  Wight  spot.' 
It  may  be  possible  that  I was  led  into  an  error  as  to  the 
spot  on  which  the  resolutions  I then  read  were  proclaimed, 
but  I was  not  and  am  not  in  error  as  to  the  fact  of  their 
forming  the  basis  of  the  creed  of  the  Republican  party, 
when  that  party  was  first  organized.  I will  state  to  you 
the  evidence  I had,  and  upon  which  I relied  for  my  state- 
ment that  the  resolutions  in  question  were  adopted  at 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Springfield,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1854.  Although  I was* 
aware  that  such  resolutions  had  been  passed  in  this  dis- 
trict, and  nearly  all  the  northern  Congressional  districts, 
and  county  conventions,  I had  not  noticed  whether  or 
not  they  had  been  adopted  by  any  State  convention.  In 
1856,  a debate  arose  in  Congress  between  Major  Thomas 
L.  Harris,  of  the  Springfield  district,  and  Mr.  Norton,  of 
the  Joliet  district,  on  political  matters  connected  with  our 
State,  in  the  course  of  which  Major  Harris  quoted  those 
resolutions  as  having  been  passed  by  the  first  Republican 
State  Convention  that  ever  assembled  in  Illinois.  I knew 
that  Major  Harris  was  remarkable  for  his  accuracy,  that 
he  was  a very  conscientious  and  sincere  man,  and  I also 
noticed  that  Norton  did  not  question  the  accuracy  of  this 
statement.  I therefore  took  it  for  granted  that  it  was  so, 
and  the  other  day,  when  I concluded  to  use  the  resolu- 
tions at  Ottawa,  I wrote  to  Charles  H.  Lanphier,  editor 
of  the  State  Register , at  Springfield,  calling  his  attention 
to  them,  telling  him  that  I had  been  informed  that  Ma- 
jor Harris  was  lying  sick  at  Springfield,  and  desiring  him 
to  call  upon  him  and  ascertain  all  the  facts  concerning 
the  resolutions,  the  time  and  the  place  where  they  were 
adopted.  In  reply,  Mr.  Lanphier  sent  to  me  two  copies 
of  his  paper,  which  I have  here.  The  first  is  a copy  of 
the  State  Register , published  at  Springfield,  Mr.  Lincoln’s 
own  town,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1854,  only  eleven  days 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  convention,  from  which  I 
desire  to  read  the  following: 

“ ‘During  the  late  discussions  in  this  city,  Lincoln  made 
a speech,  to  which  Judge  Douglas  replied.  In  Lincoln’s 
speech  he  took  the  broad  ground  that,  according  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  whites  and  blacks  are 
equal.  Prom  this  he  drew  the  conclusion,  which  he 
several  times  repeated,  that  the  white  man  had  no  right 
to  pass  laws  for  the  government  of  the  black  man  with- 
out the  nigger’s  consent.  This  speech  of  Lincoln’s  was 
heard  and  applauded  by  all  the  Abolitionists  assembled 
in  Springfield.  So  soon  as  Mr.  Lincoln  was  done  speak- 
ing, Mr.  Codding  arose,  and  requested  all  the  delegates  to 
the  Black  Republican  Convention  to  withdraw  into  the 
Senate  chamber.  They  did  so,  and  after  long  delibera- 
tion, they  laid  down  the  following  Abolition  platform  as 
the  platform  on  which  they  stood.  We  call  the  attention 
of  all  our  readers  to  it.’ 

“Then  follows  the  identical  platform,  word  for  word, 
which  I read  at  Ottawa.  Now,  that  was  published  in  Mr. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


73 


Lincoln's  own  town,  eleven  days  after  the  convention  was 
held,  and  it  has  remained  on  record  up  to  this  day,  never 
contradicted. 

“When  I quoted  the  resolutions  at  Ottawa,  and  ques- 
tioned Mr.  Lincoln  in  relation  to  them,  he  said  that  his 
name  was  on  the  committee  that  reported  them,  but  he 
did  not  serve,  nor  did  he  think  he  served,  because  he  was, 
or  thought  he  was,  in  Tazewell  county  at  the  time  the 
convention  was  in  session.  He  did  not  deny  that  the  res- 
olutions were  passed  by  the  Springfield  convention.  He 
did  not  know  better,  and,  evidently,  thought  they  were, 
but  afterwards  his  friends  declared  that  they  had  discov- 
ered that  they  varied  in  some  respects  from  the  resolutions 
passed  by  that  convention.  I have  shown  you  that  I had 
good  evidence  for  believing  that  the  resolutions  had  beem 
passed  at  Springfield.  Mr.  Lincoln  ought  to  have  known 
better ; but  not  a word  is  said  about  his  ignorance  on  the 
subject,  whilst  I,  notwithstanding  the  circumstances,  am 
accused  of  forgery. 

“Now,  I will  show  you  that  if  I had  made  a mistake  as 
to  the  place  where  these  resolutions  were  adopted— and 
when  I get  down  to  Springfield  I will  investigate  the  mat- 
ter and  see  whether  or  not  I have — that  the  principles 
they  enunciate  were  adopted  as  to  the  Black  Republican 
platform  (‘white,  white,’)  in  the  various  counties  and  con- 
gressional districts  throughout  the  north  end  of  the  State,- 
in  1854.  This  platform  was  adopted  in  nearly  every  county 
that  gave  a Black  Republican  majority  for  the  Legislature 
in  that  year,  and  here  is  a man  (pointing  to  Mr.  Denio, 
who  sat  on  the  stand  near  Deacon  Bross)  who  knows  as 
well  as  any  living  man  that  it  was  the  creed  of  the  Black 
Republican  party  at  that  time.  I would  be  willing  to  call 
Denio  as  a witness,  or  any  other  honest  man  belonging 
to  that  party.  I will  now  read  the  resolutions  adopted  at 
the  Rockford  convention  on  the  30th  of  August,  1854, 
which  nominated  Washburne,  for  Congress.  You  elected 
him  on  the  following  platform : 

“‘ Resolved , That  the  continued  and  increasing  aggressions 
of  slavery  in  our  country  are  destructive  of  the  best  rights 
of  a free  people,  and  that  such  aggressions  cannot  be 
successfully  resisted  without  the  united  political  action  of 
all  good  men. 

“‘ Resolved , That  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  hold 
within  their  hands  peaceful,  constitutional  and  efficient 
remedies  against  the  encroachment  of  the  slave  power,  the 


74 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ballot-box,  and,  if  that  remedy  is  boldly  and  wisely  ap- 
plied, the  principles  of  liberty  and  eternal  justice  will  be 
established. 

“‘Resolved,  That  we  accept  this  issue  forced  upon  us  by 
the  slave  power,  and  in  defense  of  freedom  will  co-operate 
and  be  known  as  Republicans,  pledged  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  following  purposes : 

“‘To  bring  the  administration  of  the  government  back  to 
the  control  of  first  principles ; to  restore  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska to  the  position  of  free  Territories;  to  repeal  and 
entirely  abrogate  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law;  to  restrict  sla- 
very to  those  States  in  which  it  exists;  to  prohibit  the 
admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union;  to 
exclude  slavery  from  all  the  Territories  over  which  the 
General  Government  has  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and  to 
resist  the  acquisition  of  any  more  Territories,  unless  the 
introduction  of  slavery  therein  forever  shall  have  been 
prohibited. 

“‘Resolved,  That  in  the  furtherance  of  these  principles 
wTe  will  use  such  constitutional  and  lawful  means  as  shall 
seem  best  to  their  accomplishment,  'and  that  we  will  sup- 
port no  man  for  office  under  the  general  or  State  govern- 
ment who  is  not  positively  committed  to  the  support  of 
these  principles,  and  whose  personal  character  and  conduct 
is  not  a guaranty  that  he  is  reliable,  and  shall  abjure  all 
party  allegiance  and  ties. 

“ ‘ Resolved , That  we  cordially  invite  persons  of  all 
former  political  parties,  whatever,  in  favor  of  the  object 
expressed  in  the  above  resolutions,  to  unite  with  us  in 
carrying  them  into  effect.’ 

“Well,  you  think  that  is  a very  good  platform,  do  you 
not  ? If  you  do,  if  you  approve  it  now,  and  think  it  is  all 
right,  you  will  not  join  with  those  men  who  say  that  I 
libel  you  by  balling  these  your  principles,  will  you?  Now, 
Mr.  Lincoln  complains ; Mr.  Lincoln  charges  that  I did 
you  and  him  injustice  by  saying  that  this  was  the  plat- 
form of  your  party.  I am  told  that  Mr.  Washburne  made 
a speech  in  Galena  last  night,  in  which  he  abused  me 
awfully  for  bringing  to  light  this  platform,  on  which  he 
was  elected  to  Congress.  He  thought  that  you  had  for- 
gotten it,  as  he  and  Mr.  Lincoln  desires  to.  He  did  not 
deny  but  that  you  had  adopted  it,  and  that  he  had  sub- 
scribed to  and  was  pledged  by  it,  but  he  did  not  think  it 
was  fair  to  call  it  up  and  remind  the  people  that  it  was 
their  platform. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


75 


“But  I am  glad  to  find  that  you  are  more  honest  in 
your  Abolitionism  than  your  leaders,  by  avowing  that  it 
is  your  platform,  and  right  in  your  opinion. 

“In  the  adoption  of  that  platform,  you  not  only  declare 
that  you  would  resist  the  admission  of  any  more  slave 
States,  and  work  for  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
but  you  pledged  yourselves  not  to  vote  for  any  man  for  State 
or  Federal  offices  who  was  not  committed  to  these  princi- 
ples. You  were  thus  committed.  Similar  resolutions  to 
those  were  adopted  in  your  county  convention  here,  and 
now  with  your  admissions  that  they  are  your  platform 
and  embody  your  sentiments  now  as  they  did  then,  what 
do  you  think  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  your  candidate  for  the  United 
States  Senate,  who  is  attempting  to  dodge  the  responsi- 
bility of  this  platform  because  it  was  not  adopted  in  the 
right  spot.  I thought  it  was  adopted  in  Springfield,  but 
it  turns  out  it  was  not,  that  it  was  adopted  at  Bockford, 
and  in  the  various  counties  which  comprised  this  Congres- 
sional district.  When  I get  into  the  next  district  I will 
show  that  the  same  platform  was  adopted  there,  and  so 
on  through  the  State,  until  I nail  the  responsibility  of  it 
upon  the  back  of  the  Black  Republican  party  throughout 
the  State. 

“A  voice — 'Couldn’t  you  modify  and  call  it  brown?’ 

Mr.  Douglas — “Not  a bit.  I thought  that  you  were  be- 
coming a little  brown  when  your  members  in  Congress 
voted  for  the  Crittenden-Montgomery  bill,  but  since  you 
have  backed  out  from  that  position  and  gone  back  to 
abolitionism,  you  are  black  and  not  brown. 

“Gentlemen,  I have  shown  you  what  your  platform  was 
in  1854.  You  still  adhere  to  it.  The  same  platform  was 
adopted  by  nearly  all  the  counties  where  the  Black  Repub- 
lican party  had  a majority  in  1854.  I wish  now  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  action  of  your  Representatives  in 
the  Legislature,  when  they  assembled  together  at  Spring- 
field.  In  the  first  place,  you  must  remember  that  this 
was  the  organization  of  a new  party.  It  is  so  declared  in 
the  resolutions  themselves,  which  say  that  you  are  going 
to  dissolve  all  old  party  ties,  and  call  the  new  party  Re- 
publican. The  old  Whig  party  was  to  have  its  throat  cut 
from  ear  to  ear,  and  the  Democratic  party  was  to  be  anni- 
hilated and  blotted  out  of  existence,  while  in  lieu  of  these 
parties  the  Black  Republican  party  was  to  be  organized 
on  this  Abolition  platform.  You  know  who  the  chief  leaders 
were  in  breaking  up  and  destroying  these  two  great  par- 
ties. Lincoln  on  the  one  hand,  and  Trumbull  on  the 


76 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


other,  being  disappointed  politicians,  and  having  retired 
or  been  driven  to  obscurity  by  an  outraged  constituency, 
because  of  their  political  sins,  formed  a scheme  to  abo- 
litionize  the  two  parties,  and  lead  the  old  line  Whigs  and 
old  line  Democrats  captive,  bound  hand  and  foot,  into  the 
Abolition  camp.  Giddings,  Chase,  Fred.  Douglass  and  Love- 
joy  were  here  to  christen  them  whenever  they  were  brought 
in.  Lincoln  went  to  work  to  dissolve  the  old  line  Whig 
party.  Clay  was  dead,  and  although  the  sod  was  not  yet 
green  on  his  grave,  this  man  undertook  to  bring  into  dis- 
repute those  great  compromise  measures  of  1850,  with  which 
Clay  and  Webster  were  identified.  Up  to  1851,  the  old 
WTiig  party  and  the  Democratic  party  had  stood  on  a 
common  platform,  so  far  as  this  slavery  question  was  con- 
cerned. You  Whigs  and  we  Democrats  differed  about  the 
bank,  the  tariff  distribution,  the  specie  circular  and  the 
subtreasury,  but  we  agreed  on  this  slavery  question,  and 
the  true  mode  of  preserving  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the 
Union.  The  compromise  measures  of  1850  were  intro- 
duced by  Clay,  were  defended  by  Webster,  and  supported 
by  Cass,  and  were  approved  by  Fillmore,  and  sanctioned 
by  the  National  men  of  both  parties.  They  constituted  a 
common  plank  upon  which  both  Whigs  and  Democrats 
stood.  In  1852,  the  Whig  party,  in  its  last  National  Con- 
vention at  Baltimore,  endorsed  and  approved  these  meas- 
ures of  Clay,  and  so  did  the  National  Convention  of  the 
Democratic  party,  held  that  same  year.  Thus,  the  old 
line  Whigs  and  the  old  line  Democrats  stood  pledged  to 
the  great  principle  of  self-government,  which  guarantees 
to  the  people  of  each  Territory  the  right  to  decide  the 
slavery  question  for  themselves.  In  1854,  after  the  death 
of  Clay  and  Webster,  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  part  of  the 
Whigs,  undertook  to  abolitionize  the  Whig  party,  by  dis- 
solving it,  transferring  the  members  into  the  Abolition 
camp,  and  making  them  train  under  Giddings,  Fred. 
Douglass,  Lovejoy,  Chase,  Farnsworth  and  other  Abolition 
leaders.  Trumbull  undertook  to  dissolve  the  Democratic 
party  by  taking  them  into  the  Abolition  camp.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  aided  in  his  efforts  by  many  leading  Whigs 
throughout  the  State.  Your  member  of  Congress,  Mr. 
Washburne,  being  one  of  the  most  active.  Trumbull  was 
aided  by  many  renegades  from  the  Democratic  party, 
among  whom  were  John  Wentworth,  Tom  Turner,  and 
others,  with  whom  you  are  familiar. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


77 


(Mr.  Turner,  who  was  one  of  the  moderators,  here  inter- 
posed and  said  that  he  had  drawn  the  resolutions  which 
Senator  Douglas  had  read.) 

Mr.  Douglas — “ Yes,  and  Turner  says  that  he  drew  these 
resolutions.”  (‘Hurrah  for  Turner,’  ‘Hurrah  for  Doug- 
las.’) “ That  is  right,  give  Turner  cheers  for  drawing  the 
resolutions  if  you  approve  them.  If  he  drew  those  reso- 
lutions he  w7ill  not  deny  that  they  are  the  creed  of  the 
Black  Bepublican  party.” 

Mr.  Turner — “They  are  our  creed  exactly.” 

Mr.  Douglas — “And  yet  Lincoln  denies  that  he  stands 
on  them.  Mr.  Turner  says  that  the  creed  of  the  Black 
Bepublican  party  is  the  admission  of  no  more  slave  States, 
and  yet  Mr.  Lincoln  declares  that  he  would  not  like  to  be 
placed  in  a position  where  he  would  have  to  vote  for  them. 
All  I have  to  say  to  friend  Lincoln  is,  that  I do  not  think 
there  is  much  danger  of  his  being  placed  in  such  a posi- 
tion. As  Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  very  sorry  to  be  placed 
in  such  an  embarrassing  position  as  to  be  obliged  to  vote 
on  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States,  I propose,  out 
of  sheer  kindness,  to  relieve  him  from  any  such  necessity. 

“ When  the  bargain  between  Lincoln  and  Trumbull  was 
completed  for  abolitionizing  the  Whig  and  Democratic  par- 
ties, they  ‘spread’  over  the  State,  Lincoln  pretending  to  be 
an  old  line  Whig,  in  order  to  ‘rope  in’  the  Whigs,  and 
Trumbull  pretending  to  be  as  good  a Democrat  as  he  ever 
was,  in  order  to  coax  the  Democrats  over  into  the  Aboli- 
tion ranks.  They  played  the  part  that  ‘ decoy  ducks  ’ play 
down  on  the  Potomac  river.  In  that  part  of  the  country 
they  make  artificial  ducks,  and  put  them  on  the  water  in 
places  where  the  wild  ducks  are  to  be  found,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  decoying  them.  Well,  Lincoln  and  Trumbull  played 
the  part  of  these  ‘decoy  ducks,’  and  deceived  enough  old 
line  Whigs  and  old  line  Democrats  to  elect  a Black  Bepub- 
lican Legislature.  When  that  Legislature  met,  the  first 
thing  it  did  was  to  elect  as  Speaker  of  the  House  the  very 
man  who  is  now  boasting  that  he  wrote  the  Abolition 
platform  on  which  Lincoln  will  not  stand.  I want  to  know 
of  Mr.  Turner  whether  or  not,  when  he  was  elected,  he 
was  a good  embodiment  of  Bepublican  principles?” 

Mr.  Turner — “I  hope  I was  then  and  am  now/’ 

Mr.  Douglas — “ He  answers  that  he  hopes  he  was  then 
and  is  now.  He  wrote  that  Black  Bepublican  platform, 
and  is  satisfied  with  it  now.  I admire  and  acknowledge 
Turner’s  honesty.  Every  man  of  you  know  that  what  he 


78 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


says  about  these  resolutions  being  the  platform  of  the 
Black  Republican  party  is  true,  and  you  also  know  that 
each  one  of  these  men,  who  are  shuffling  and  trying  to 
deny  it,  are  only  trying  to  cheat  the  people  out  of  their 
votes,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  them  still  more  after 
the  election.  , I propose  to  trace  this  thing  a little  further, 
in  order  that  you  can  see  what  additional  evidence  there 
is  to  fasten  this  revolutionary  platform  upon  the  Black 
Republican  party.  When  the  Legislature  assembled,  there 
was  an  United  States  Senator  to  elect  in  the  place  of  Gren. 
Shields,  and  before  they  proceeded  to  ballot,  Lovejoy  in- 
sisted on  laying  down  certain  principles  by  which  to  gov- 
ern the  party.  It  has  been  published  to  the  world,  and 
satisfactorily  proven,  that  there  was,  at  the  time  the  alli- 
ance was  made  between  Trumbull  and  Lincoln  to  aboli- 
tionize  the  two  parties,  an  agreement  that  Lincoln  should 
take  Shields’  place  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  Trum- 
bull should  have  mine  so  soon  as  they  could  conveniently 
get  rid  of  me.  When  Lincoln  was  beaten  for  Shields’ 
place,  in  a manner  I will  refer  to  in  a few  minutes,  he 
felt  very  sore  and  restive ; his  friends  grumbled,  and  some 
of  them  came  out  and  charged  that  the  most  infamous 
treachery  had  been  practiced  against  him ; that  the  bar- 
gain was  that  Lincoln  was  to  have  had  Shields’  place,  and 
Trumbull  was  to  have  waited  for  mine,  but  that  Trum- 
bull, having  the  control  of  a few  abolitionized  Democrats, 
he  prevented  them  from  voting  for  Lincoln,  thus  keeping 
him  within  a few  votes  of  an  election  until  he  succeeded 
in  forcing  the  party  to  drop  him  and  elect  Trumbull. 
Well,  Trumbull  having  cheated  Lincoln,  his  friends  made 
a fuss,  and  in  order  to  keep  them  and  Lincoln  quiet,  the 
party  were  obliged  to  come  forward,  in  advance,  at  the 
last  State  election,  and  make  a pledge  that  they  would 
go  for  Lincoln  and  nobody  else.  Lincoln  could  not  be 
silenced  in  any  other  way. 

“Now,  there  are  a great  many  Black  Republicans  of  you 
who  do  not  know  this  thing  was  done.  (‘White,  white,’  and 
great  clamor.)  I wish  to  remind  you,  that  while  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  speaking  there  was  not  a Democrat  vulgar 
and  blackguard  enough  to  interrupt  him.  But  I know 
that  the  shoe  is  pinching  you.  I am  clinching  Lincoln 
now,  and  you  are  scared  to  death  for  the  result.  I have 
seen  this  thing  before.  I have  seen  men  make  appoint- 
ments for  joint  discussions,  and  the  moment  their  man  has 
been  heard,  try  to  interrupt  and  prevent  a fair  hearing  of 
the  other  side.  I have  seen  your  mobs  before,  and  defy 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


79 


your  wrath.  My  friends,  do  not  cheer,  for  I need  my 
whole  time.  The  object  of  the  opposition  is  to  occupy  my 
attention,  in  order  to  prevent  me  from  giving  the  whole 
evidence  and  nailing  this  double  dealing  on  the  Black 
Republican  party.  As  I have  before  said,  Lovejoy  de- 
manded a declaration  of  principles  on  the  part  of  the 
Black  Republicans  of  the  Legislature  before  going  into  an 
election  for  United  States  Senator.  He  offered  the  follow- 
ing preamble  and  resolutions,  which  I hold  in  my  hand. 

‘“Whereas,  Human  slavery  is  a violation  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  natural  and  revealed  rights ; and  whereas,  the 
fathers  of  the  revolution,  fully  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
these  principles,  declared  freedom  to  be  the  inalienable 
birthright  of  all  men;  and  whereas,  the  preamble  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  avers  that  that  instru- 
ment was  ordained  to  establish  justice,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity;  and 
whereas,  in  futherance  of  the  above  principles,  slavery 
was  forever  prohibited  in  the  old  Northwest  territory,  and 
more  recently  in  all  that  territory  lying  west  and  north 
of  the  State  of  Missouri,  by  the  act  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment; and  whereas,  the  repeal  of  the  prohibition  last 
referred  to  was  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  people  of 
Illinois,  a violation  of  an  implied  compact,  long  deemed 
sacred  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  a wide 
departure  from  the  uniform  action  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment in  relation  to  the  extension  of  slavery ; therefore, 

“ ‘ Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Senate 
concurring  therein,  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  in- 
structed, and  Representatives  requested,  to  introduce,  if  not 
otherwise  introduced,  and  to  vote  for,  a bill  to  restore  such 
prohibition  to  the  aforesaid  Territories,  and  also  to  extend 
a similar  prohibition  to  all  territory  which  now  belongs  to 
the  United  States,  or  which  may  hereafter  come  under 
their  jurisdiction. 

“ ‘ Resolved , That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed, 
and  our  Representatives  requested,  to  vote  against  the  ad- 
mission of  any  State  into  the  Union,  the  constitution  of 
which  does  not  prohibit  slavery,  whether  the  territory  out 
of  which  such  State  may  have  been  formed  shall  have 
been  acquired  by  conquest,  treaty,  purchase,  or  from  orig- 
inal territory  of  the  United  States. 

“ ‘ Resolved , That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed, 
and  our  Representatives  requested,  to  introduce  and  vote 
for  a bill  to  repeal  an  act  entitled  ‘an  act  respecting  fugi- 
tives from  justice  and  persons  escaping  from  the  service 


80 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  their  masters/  and,  failing  in  that,  for  such  a modifi- 
cation of  it  as  shall  secure  the  right  of  habeas  corpus  and 
trial  by  jury  before  the  regularly  constituted  authorities 
of  the  State,  to  all  persons  claimed  as  owing  service  or  labor. 

“ Those  resolutions  were  introduced  by  Mr.  Lovejoy 
immediately  preceding  the  election  of  Senator.  They  de- 
clared first,  that  the  Wilmot  Proviso  must  be  applied  to 
all  territory  north  of  36  deg.  80  min.  Secondly,  that  it 
must  be  applied  to  all  territory  south  of  36  deg.  30  min. 
Thirdly,  that  it  must  be  applied  to  all  the  territory  now 
owned  by  the  United  States,  and  finally,  that  it  must  be 
applied  to  all  territory  hereafter  to  be  acquired  by  the 
United  States.  The  next  resolution  deblares  that  no  more 
slave  States  shall  be  admitted  into  this  Union  under  any 
circumstances  whatever,  no  matter  whether  they  are  formed 
out  of  territory  now7  owned  by  us  or  that  w7e  may  here- 
after acquire,  by  treaty,  by  Congress,  or  in  any  manner 
whatever.  The  next  resolution  demands  the  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  although  its  uncondi- 
tional repeal  would  leave  no  provision  for  carrying  out 
that  clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  which 
guarantees  the  surrender  of  fugitives.  If  they  could  not 
get  an  unconditional  repeal,  they  demanded  that  that  law 
should  be  so  modified  as  to  make  it  as  nearly  useless  as 
possible.  Now7,  I want  to  show  you  who  voted  for  these 
resolutions.  When  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  first  reso- 
lution it  was  decided  in  the  affirmative — yeas  41,  nays  32. 
You  will  find  that  this  is  a strict  party  vote,  between  the 
Democrats  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Black  Republicans 
on  the  other.  (Cries  of  ‘white,  white/  and  clamor.)  I 
know  your  name,  and  always  call  things  by  their  right 
name.  The  point  I wish  to  call  your  attention  to  is  this, 
that  these  resolutions  were  adopted  on  the  7th  day  of 
February,  and  that  on  the  8th  they  went  into  an  election 
for  a United  States  Senator,  and  that  day  every  man  who 
voted  for  these  resolutions,  with  but  two  exceptions,  voted 
for  Lincoln  for  the  United  States  Senate.  (‘Give  us  their 
names.’)  I will  read  the  names  over  to  you  if  you  want 
them,  but  I believe  your  object  is  to  occupy  my  time. 

“On  the  next  resolution  the  vote  stood,  yeas  33,  nays 
40,  and  on  the  third  resolution,  yeas  35,  nays  47.  I w7ish 
to  impress  upon  you,  that  every  man  who  voted  for  those 
resolutions,  with  but  two  exceptions,  voted  on  the  next 
day  for  Lincoln  for  United  States  Senator.  Bear  in  mind 
that  the  members  who  thus  voted  for  Lincoln  were  elected 
to  the  Legislature  pledged  to  vote  for  no  man  for  office 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


81 


under  the  State  or  Federal  Government  who  was  not  com- 
mitted to  this  Black  Republican  platform.  They  were  all 
so  pledged.  Mr.  Turner,  who  stands  by  me,  and  who  then 
represented  you,  and  who  says  that  he  wrote  those  resolu- 
tions, voted  for  Lincoln,  when  he  was  pledged  not  to  do 
so  unless  Lincoln  was  in  favor  of  those  resolutions.  I 
now  ask  Mr.  Turner,  (turning  to  Mr.  Turner,)  did  you 
violate  your  pledge  in  voting  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  did  he 
commit  himself  to  your  platform  before  you  cast  your 
vote  for  him? 

“I  could  go  through  the  whole  list  of  names  here  and 
show  you  that  all  the  Black  Republicans  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, who  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  had  voted  on  the  day 
previous  for  these  resolutions.  For  instance,  here  are 
the  names  of  Sargent  and  Little  of  JoDaviess  and  Car- 
roll,  Thomas  J.  Turner  of  Stephenson,  Lawrence  of  Boone 
and  McHenry,  Swan  of  Lake,  Pinckney  of  Ogle  and 
Lyman  of  Winnebago  counties.  Thus  you  see  that  every 
member  from  your  Congressional  district  voted  for  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  they  were  pledged  not  to  vote  for  him  un- 
less he  committed  himself  to  the  doctrine  of  no  more 
slave  States,  and  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 
Mr.  Lincoln  tells  you  to-day  that  he  is  not  pledged  to 
rany  such  doctrine.  Either  Mr.  Lincoln  was  then  com- 
mitted to  those  propositions,  or  Mr.  Turner  violated  his 
pledges  to  you  when  he  voted  for  him.  Either  Lincoln 
was  pledged  to  each  one  of  those  propositions,  or  else  every 
Black  Republican  Representative  from  this  Congressional 
district  violated  his  pledge  of  honor  to  his  constituents 
by  voting  for  him.  I ask  you  which  horn  of  the  dilemma 
will  you  take?  Will  you  hold  Lincoln  up  to  the  plat- 
form of  his  party,  or  will  you  accuse  every  Representative 
you  had  in  the  Legislature  of  violating  his  pledge  of  honor 
to  his  constituents?  There  is  no  escape  for  you.  Either 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  committed  to  those  propositions,  or  your 
members  violated  their  faith.  Take  either  horn  of  the 
dilemma  you  choose.  There  is  no  dodging  the  question; 
I want  Lincoln’s  answer.  He  says  he  was  not  pledged  to 
repeal  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  that  he  does  not  quite 
like  to  do  it;  he  will  not  introduce  a law  to  repeal  it, 

but  thinks  there  ought  to  be  some  law, — he  does  not  tell 

what  it  ought  to  be ; upon  the  whole,  he  is  altogether 

undecided,  and  don’t  know  what  to  think  or  do.  That 

is  the  substance  of  his  answer  upon  the  repeal  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law.  I put  the  question  to  him  distinctly, 

—6 


82 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


whether  he  endorsed  that  part  of  the  Black  Republican 
platform  which  calls  for  the  entire  abrogation  and 
repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  He  answers,  no  ! That 
he  does  not  endorse  that,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  what  he 
is  for  or  what  he  will  vote  for.  His  answer  is,  in  fact, 
no  answer  at  all.  Why  can  not  he  speak  out  and  say  what 
he  is  for  and  what  he  will  do? 

“In  regard  to  there  being  no  more  slave  States,  he  is  not 
pledged  to  that.  He  would  not  like,  he  says,  to  be  put 
in  a position  where  he  would  have  to  vote  one  way  or 
another  upon  that  question.  I pray  you,  do  not  put  him 
in  a position  that  would  embarrass  him  so  much.  Gen- 
tlemen, if  he  goes  to  the  Senate,  he  may  be  put  in  that 
position,  and  then  which  way  will  he  vote? 

A voice — “How  will  you  vote?” 

Mr.  Douglas — “I  will  vote  for  the  admission  of  just  such  a 
State  as  by  the  form  of  their  Constitution  the  people  show 
they  want;  if  they  want  slavery,  they  shall  have  it;  if 
they  prohibit  it,  it  shall  be  prohibited.  They  can  form 
their  institutions  to  please  themselves,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution;  and  I for  one  stand  ready  to  receive  them 
into  the  Union.  Why  can  not  your  Black  Republican 
candidates  talk  out  as  plain  as  that  when  they  are  ques- 
tioned ? 

“ I do  not  want  to  cheat  any  man  out  of  his  vote.  No 
man  is  deceived  in  regard  to  my  principles,  if  I have  the 
power  to  express  myself  in  terms  explicit  enough  to  con- 
vey my  ideas. 

“Mr.  Lincoln  made  a speech  when  he  was  nominated 
for  the  United  States  Senate  which  covers  all  the  Aboli- 
tion platforms.  He  there  lays  down  a proposition  so  broad 
in  its  abolitionism  as  to  cover  the  whole  ground. 

“ ‘In  my  opinion  it  (the  slavery  agitation)  will  not  cease 
until  a crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  ‘ A 
house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand.’  I believe  this 
Government  can  not  endure  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free.  I do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I do  ex- 
pect it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery 
will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it  where  the  public  mind 
shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward  till  it 
shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States — old  as  well  as 
new,  North  as  well  as  South.’  ” 

“ There  you  find  that  Mr.  Lincoln  lays  down  the  doc- 
trine that  this  Union  can  not  endure  divided  as  our  fathers 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


83 


made,  it,  with  free  and  slave  States.  He  says  they  must 
all  become  one  thing,  or  all  the  other ; that  they  must  all 
be  free  or  all  slave,  or  else  the  Union  can  not  continue  to 
exist.  It  being  his  opinion  that  to  admit  any  more  slave 
States — to  continue  to  divide  the  Union  into  free  and 
slave  States — will  dissolve  it,  I want  to  know  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln whether  he  will  vote  for  the  admission  of  another 
slave  State. 

“ He  tells  you  the  Union  can  not  exist  unless  the  States 
are  all  free  or  all  slave ; he  tells  you  that  he  is  opposed 
to  making  them  all  slave,  and  hence  he  is  for  making 
them  all  free,  in  order  that  the  Union  may  exist;  and  yet 
he  will  not  say  that  he  will  not  vote  against  another  slave 
State,  knowing  that  the  Union  must  be  dissolved  if  he 
votes  for  it.  I ask  you  if  that  is  fair  dealing?  The  true 
intent  and  inevitable  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  his  first 
Springfield  speech  is,  that  he  is  opposed  to  the  admission 
of  any  more  slave  States  under  any  circumstances.  If 
he  is  so  opposed,  why  not  say  so?  If  he  believes  this 
Union  can  not  endure  divided  into  free  and  slave  States, 
that  they  must  all  become  free  in  order  to  save  the  Union, 
he  is  bound,  as  an  honest  man,  to  vote  against  any  more 
slave  States.  If  he  believes  it,  he  is  bound  to  do  it.  Show 
me  that  it  is  my  duty,  in  order  to  save  the  Union,  to  do 
a particular  act,  and  I will  do  it  if  the  Constitution  does 
not  prohibit  it.  I am  not  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union 
under  any  circumstances.  I will  pursue  no  course  of  con- 
duct that  will  give  just  cause  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  The  hope  of  the  friends  of  freedom  throughout 
the  world  rests  upon  the  perpetuity  of  this  Union.  The 
down-trodden  and  oppressed  people  who  are  suffering  under 
European  despotism  all  look  with  hope  and  anxiety  to  the 
American  Union  as  the  only  resting  place  and  permanent 
home  of  freedom  and  self-government. 

“Mr.  Lincoln  says  that  he  believes  that  this  Union  can 
not  continue  to  endure  with  slave  States  in  it,  and  yet  he 
will  not  tell  you  distinctly  whether  he  will  vote  for  or  against 
the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States,  but  says  he  would 
not  like  to  be  put  to  the  test.  I do  not  think  he  will  be 
put  to  the  test.  I do  not  think  that  the  people  of  Illinois 
desire  a man  to  represent  them  who  would  not  like  to  be 
put  to  the  test  on  the  performance  of  a high  constitutional 
duty.  I will  retire  in  shame  from  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  when  I am  not  willing  to  be  put  to  the  test  in  the 
performance  of  my  duty.  I have  been  put  to  severe  tests. 


84  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

I have  stood  by  my  principles  in  fair  weather  and  in  foul, 
in  the  sunshine  and  in  the  rain.  I have  defended  the 
great  principles  of  self-government  here  among  you  when 
Northern  sentiment  ran  in  a torrent  against  me,  and  I 
have  defended  that  same  great  principle  when  Southern 
sentiment  came  down  like  an  avalanche  upon  me.  I was 
not  afraid  of  any  test  they  put  to  me.  I knew  I was  right — 
I knew  my  principles  were  sound — I knew  that  the  people 
would  see  in  the  end  that  I had  done  right,  and  I knew 
that  the  God  of  Heaven  would  smile  upon  me  if  I was 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  my  duty. 

“Mr.  Lincoln  makes  a charge  of  corruption  against  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  two  Presidents 
of  the  United  States,  and  attempts  to  bolster  it  up  by 
saying  that  I did  the  same  against  the  Washington  Union . 
Suppose  I did  make  that  charge  of  corruption  against  the 
Washington  Union,  when  it  was  true;  does  that  justify 
him  in  making  a false  charge  against  me  and  others? 
That  is  the  question  I would  put.  He  says  that  at  the 
time  the  Nebraska  bill  was  introduced,  and  before  it  was 
passed,  there  was  a conspiracy  between  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  President  Pierce,  President  Buchanan  and 
myself  by  that  bill,  and  the  decision  of  the  Court,  to  break 
down  the  barrier  and  establish  slavery  all  over  the  Union. 
Does  he  not  know  that  that  charge  is  historically  false  as 
against  Mr.  Buchanan?  He  knows  that  Mr.  Buchanan 
was  at  that  time  in  England,  representing  this  country 
•with  distinguished  ability  at  the  court  of  St.  James;  that 
he  was  there  for  a long  time  before,  and  did  not  return 
for  a year  or  more  after.  He  knows  that  to  be  true,  and 
that  fact  proves  his  charge  to  be  false  as  against  Mr. 
Buchanan.  Then,  again,  I wish  to  call  his  attention  to 
the  fact  that  at  the  time  the  Nebraska  bill  was  passed, 
the  Dred  Scott  case  was  not  before  the  Supreme  Court  at 
all;  it  was  not  upon  the  docket  of  the  Supreme  Court; 
it  had  not  been  brought  there,  and  the  judges  in  all  prob- 
ability knew  nothing  of  it.  Thus  the  history  of  the  country 
proves  the  charge  to  be  false  as  against  them.  As  to 
President  Pierce,  his  high  character  as  a man  of  integrity 
and  honor  is  enough  to  vindicate  him  from  such  a charge ; 
and  as  to  myself,  I pronounce  the  charge  an  infamous 
lie,  whenever  and  wherever  made,  and  by  whomsoever 
made.  I am  willing  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  go  and  rake 
up  every  public  act  of  mine,  every  measure  I have  intro- 
duced, report  I have  made,  speech  delivered,  and  criticise 
them,  but  when  he  charges  upon  me  a corrupt  conspiracy 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


85 


for  the  purpose  of  perverting  the  institutions  of  the 
country,  I brand  it  as  it  deserves.  I say  the  history  of 
the  country  proves  it  to  be  false,  and  that  it  could  not 
have  been  possible  at  the  time.  But  now  he  tries  to  pro- 
tect himself  in  this  charge,  because  I made  a charge 
against  the  Washington  Union.  My  speech  in  the  Senate 
against  the  Washington  Union  was  made  because  it  advo- 
cated a revolutionary  doctrine,  by  declaring  that  the  free 
States  had  not  the  right  to  prohibit  slavery  within  their 
own  limits.  Because  I made  that  charge  against  the 
Washington  Union,  Mr.  Lincoln  says  it  was  a charge 
against  Mr.  Buchanan.  Suppose  it  was,  is  Mr.  Lincoln 
the  peculiar  defender  of  Mr.  Buchanan?  Is  he  so  inter- 
ested in  the  Federal  Administration,  and  so  bound  to  it, 
that  he  must  jump  to  the  rescue  and  defend  it  from  every 
attack  that  I may  make  against  it  ? I understand  the  whole 
thing.  The  Washington  Union , under  that  most  corrupt 
of  all  men,  Cornelius  Wendell,  is  advocating  Mr.  Lincoln’s 
claim  to  the  Senate.  Wendell  was  the  printer  of  the  last 
Black  Republican  House  of  Representatives ; he  was  a 
candidate  before  the  present  Democratic  house,  but  was 
ignominiously  kicked  out,  and  then  he  took  the  money 
which  he  had  made  out  of  the  public  printing,  by  means 
of  the  Black  Republicans,  bought  the  Washington  Union , 
and  is  now  publishing  it  in  the  name  of  the  Democratic 
party,  and  advocating  Mr.  Lincoln’s  election  to  tbe  Senate.. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  therefore,  considers  an  attack  upon  Wendell 
and  his  corrupt  gang  as  a personal  attack  upon  himself. 
This  only  proves  what  I have  charged,  that  there  is  an 
alliance  between  Lincoln  and  his  supporters,  and  the 
Federal  office-holders  of  this  State,  and  Presidential  aspi- 
rants out  of  it,  to  break  me  down  at  home. 

“Mr.  Lincoln  feels  bound  to  come  in  to  the  rescue  of 
the  Washington  Union . In  that  speech  which  I delivered 
in  answer  to  the  Washington  Union,  I made  it  distinctly 
against  the  Union , and  against  the  Union  alone.  I did 
not  choose  to  go  beyond  that.  If  I have  occasion  to  attack 
the  President’s  conduct,  I will  do  it  in  language  that  will 
not  be  misunderstood.  When  I differed  with  the  Presi- 
dent, I spoke  out  so  that  you  all  heard  me.  That  question 
passed  away;  it  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  my  principle, 
by  allowing  the  people  to  do  as  they  please,  and  there  is 
an  end  of  the  controversy.  Whenever  the  great  principle 
of  self-government — the  right  of  the  people  to  make  their 
own  constitution,  and  come  into  the  Union  with  slavery 
or  without,  as  they  see  proper — shall  again  rise,  you  will 


86 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


find  me  standing  firm  in  defense  of  that  principle,  and 
fighting  whoever  fights  it.  If  Mr.  Buchanan  stands,  as  I 
doubt  not  he  will,  by  the  recommendation  contained  in 
his  message,  that  hereafter  all  State  constitutions  ought 
to  be  submitted  to  the  people  before  the  admission  of  the 
State  into  the  Union,  he  will  find  me  standing  by  him 
firmly,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  carrying  it  out.  I know 
Mr.  Lincoln’s  object;  he  wants  to  divide  the  Democratic 
party,  in  order  that  he  may  cheat  me  and  get  to  the 
Senate.” 

Mr.  Douglas’  time  here  expired,  and  he  stopped  on  the 
moment. 

mr.  Lincoln’s  rejoinder. 

“My  Friends:  It  will  readily  occur  to  you  that  I can- 
not, in  half  an  hour,  notice  all  the  things  that  so  able 
a man  as  Judge  Douglas  can  say  in  an  hour  and  a half ; 
and  I hope,  therefore,  if  there  be  anything  that  he  has 
said  upon  which  you  would  like  to  hear  something  from 
me,  but  which  I omit  to  comment  upon,  you  will  bear  in 
mind  that  it  would  be  expecting  an  impossibility  for  me 
to  go  over  his  whole  ground.  I can  but  take  up  some  of 
the  points  that  he  has  dwelt  upon,  and  employ  my  half 
hour  specially  on  them. 

“The  first  thing  that  I have  to  say  to  you,  is  a word  in 
regard  to  Judge  Douglas’  declaration  about  the  ‘vulgarity 
and  blackguardism’  in  the  audience,  that  no  such  thing, 
as  he  says,  was  shown  by  any  Democrat  while  I was  speak- 
ing. Now,  I only  wish,  by  way  of  reply  on  this  subject, 
to  say  that  while  I was  speaking,  I used  no  ‘vulgarity  or 
blackguardism’  toward  any  Democrat. 

“Now,  my  friends,  I come  to  all  this  long  portion  of  the 
Judge’s  speech — perhaps  half  of  it — which  he  has  devoted 
to  the  various  resolutions  and  platforms  that  have  been 
adopted  in  the  different  counties  in  the  different  Congres- 
sional districts,  and  in  the  Illinois  Legislature,  which  he 
supposes  are  at  variance  with  the  positions  I have  assumed 
before  you  to-day.  It  is  true  that  many  of  these  resolu- 
tions are  at  variance  with  the  positions  I have  here  as- 
sumed. All  I have  to  ask  is,  that  we  talk  reasonably  and 
rationally  about  it.  I happen  to  know,  the  Judge’s  opinion 
to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding,  that  I have  never  tried 
to  conceal  my  opinions,  nor  tried  to  deceive  any  one  in 
reference  to  them.  He  may  go  and  examine  all  the  mem- 
bers who  voted  for  me  for  United  States  Senator  in  1855, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


87 


after  the  election  of  1854.  They  were  pledged  to  certain 
things  here  at  home,  and  were  determined  to  have  pledges 
from  me,  and  if  he  will  find  any  of  these  persons  who  will 
tell  him  anything  inconsistent  with  what  I say  now,  I will 
resign,  or  rather  retire  from  the  race,  and  give  him  no 
more  trouble.  The  plain  truth  is  this.  At  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Nebraska  policy,  we  believed  there  was  a new 
era  being  introduced  in  the  history  of  the  Republic,  which 
tended  to  the  spread  and  perpetuation  of  slavery.  But  in 
our  opposition  to  that  measure  we  did  not  agree  with  one 
another  in  everything.  The  people  in  the  north  end  of 
the  State  were  for  stronger  measures  of  opposition  than 
we  of  the  central  and  southern  portions  of  the  State,  but 
we  were  all  opposed  to  the  Nebraska  doctrine.  We  had 
that  one  feeling  and  that  one  sentiment  in  common.  You 
at  the  north  end  met  in  your  conventions  and  passed  your 
resolutions.  We  in  the  middle  of  the  State  and  further 
south  did  not  hold  such  conventions  and  pass  the  same 
resolutions,  although  we  had,  in  general,  a common  view 
and  a common  sentiment.  So  that  these  meetings,  which 
the  Judge  has  alluded  to,  and  the  resolutions  he  has  read 
from,  were  local,  and  did  not  spread  over  the  whole  State. 
We  at  last  met  together  in  1856,  from  all  parts  of  the 
State,  and  we  agreed  upon  a common  platform.  You, 
who  held  more  extreme  notions,  either  yielded  those 
notions,  or,  if  not  wholly  yielding  them,  agreed  to  yield 
them  practically,  for  the  sake  of  embodying  the  opposition 
to  the  measures  which  the  opposite  party  were  pushing 
forward  at  that  time.  We  met  you  then,  and  if  there  was 
anything  yielded,  it  was  for  practical  purposes.  We  agreed 
then  upon  a platform  for  the  party  throughout  the  entire 
State  of  Illinois,  and  now  we  are  all  bound,  as  a party, 
to  that  platform . And  I say  here  to  you/  if  any  one  ex- 
pects of  me — in  the  case  of  my  election — that  I will  do 
anything  not  signified  by  our  Republican  platform  and  my 
answers  here  to-day,  I tell  you  very  frankly  that  person 
will  be  deceived.  I do  not  ask  for  the  vote  of  any  one 
who  supposes  that  I have  secret  purposes  or  pledges  that 
1 dare  not  speak  out.  Can  not  the  Judge  be  satisfied?  If 
he  fears,  in  the  unfortunate  case  of  my  election,  that  my 
going  to  Washington  will  enable  me  to  advocate  senti- 
ments contrary  to  those  which  I expressed  when  you  voted 
for  and  elected  me,  I assure  him  that  his  fears  are  wholly 
needless  and  groundless.  Is  the  Judge  really  afraid  of  any 
such  thing?  I’ll  tell  you  what  he  is'  afraid  of.  He  is 
afraid  we'll  all  pull  together . This  is  what  alarms  him 


83 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


more  than  anything  else.  For  my  part,  I do  hope  that 
all  of  ns,  entertaining  a common  sentiment  in  opposition^ 
to  what  appears  to  us  a design  to  nationalize  and  perpet- 
uate slavery,  will  waive  minor  differences  on  questions 
which  either  belong  to  the  dead  past  or  the  distant  future, 
and  all  pull  together  in  the  struggle.  What  are  your  sen- 
timents? If  it  be  true,  that  on  the  ground  which  I 
occupy — ground  which  I occupy  as  frankly  and  boldly  as 
Judge  Douglas  does  his — my  views,  though  partly  coin- 
ciding with  yours,  are  not  as  perfectly  in  accordance  with 
your  feelings  as  his  are,  I do  say  to  you,  in  all  candor, 
go  for  him  and  not  for  me.  I hope  to  deal  in  all  things 
fairly  with  Judge  Douglas,*  and  with  the  people  of  the 
State,  in  this  contest.  And  if  I should  never  be  elected 
to  (any  office,  I trust  I may  go  down  with  no  stain  of 
falsehood  upon  my  reputation,  notwithstanding  the  hard 
opinions  Judge  Douglas  chooses  to  entertain  of  me. 

“ The  Judge  has  again  addressed  himself  to  the  aboli- 
tion tendencies  of  a speech  of  mine,  made  at  Springfield 
in  June  last.  I have  so  often  tried  to  answer  what  he 
is  always  saying  on  that  melancholy  theme,  that  I almost 
turn  with  disgust  from  the  discussion — from  the  repetition 
of  an  answer  to  it.  I trust  that  nearly  all  of  this  intelli- 
gent audience  have  read  that  speech.  If  you  have,  I may 
venture  to  leave  it  to  you  to  inspect  it  closely,  and  see 
whether  it  contains  any  of  those  ‘bugaboos’  which  frighten 
Judge  Douglas. 

“ The  Judge  complains  that  I did  not  fully  answer  his 
questions.  If  I have  the  sense  to  comprehend  and  answer 
those  questions,  I have  done  so  fairly.  If  it  can  be  pointed 
out  to  me  how  I can  more  fully  and  fairly  answer  him, 
I aver  I have  not  the  sense  to  see  how  it  is  to  be  done. 
He  says  I do  not  declare  I would,  in  any  event,  vote  for 
the  admission  of  a slave  State  into  the  Union.  If  I have 
been  fairly  reported  he  will  see  that  I did  give  an  explicit 
answer  to  his  interrogatories.  I did  not  merely  say  that 
I would  dislike  to  be  put  to  the  test;  but  I said  clearly, 
if  I were  put  to  the  test,  and  a Territory  from  which 
slavery  Imd  been  excluded  should  present  herself  with  a 
State  Constitution  sanctioning  slavery, — a most  extraor- 
dinary thing,  and  wholly  unlikely  to  happen, — I did  not 
see  how  I could  avoid  voting  for  her  admission.  But  he 
refuses  to  understand  that  I said  so,  and  he  wants  this 
audience  to  understand  that  I did  not  say  so.  Yet  it  will 
be  so  reported  in  the  printed  speech  that  he  can  not  help 
seeing  it. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


89" 


“ He  says  if  I should  vote  for  the  admission  of  a slave 
State  I would  be  voting  for  a dissolution  of  the  Union, 
because  I hold  that  the  Union  cannot  permanently  exist 
half  slave  and  half  free.  I repeat  that  I do  not  believe 
this  Government  can  endure  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free,  yet  I do  not  admit,  or  does  it  at  all  follow, 
that  the  admission  of  a single  slave  State  will  perma- 
nently fix  the  character  and  establish  this  as  a univer- 
sal slave  Nation.  The  Judge  is  very  happy  indeed  at 
working  up  these  quibbles.  Before  leaving  the  subject  of 
answering  questions,  I aver  as  my  confident  belief,  when 
you  come  to  see  our  speeches  in  print,  that  you  will  find 
every  question  which  he  has  asked  me  more  fairly  and 
boldly  and  fully  answered  than  he  has  answered  those 
which  I put  to  him.  Is  not  that  so?  The  two  speeches 
may  be  placed  side  by  side ; and  I will  venture  to  leave 
it  to  impartial  judges  whether  his  questions  have  not  been 
more  directly  and  substantially  answered  than  mine. 

“ Judge  Douglas  says  he  made  a charge  upon  the  editor 
of  the  Washington  Union , alone , of  entertaining  a purpose 
to  rob  the  States  of  their  power  to  exclude  slavery  from 
their  limits.  I undertake  to  say,  and  I make  the  direct 
issue,  that  he  did  not  make  his  charge  against  the  Union 
alone.  I will  undertake  to  prove  by  the  record  here,  that 
he  made  that  charge  against  more  and  higher  dignitaries 
than  the  editor  of  the  Washington  Union . I am  quite 
aware  that  he  was  shirking  and  dodging  around  the  form 
in  which  he  put  it,  but  I can  make  it  manifest  that  he 
leveled  his  ‘fatal  blow'  against  more  persons  than  this 
Washington  editor.  Will  he  dodge  it  now  by  alleging 
that  I am  trying  to  defend  Mr.  Buchanan  against  the 
charge  ? Not  at  all.  Am  I not  making  the  same  charge  my- 
self? I am  trying  to  show  that  you,  Judge  Douglas,  are 
a witness  on  my  side.  I am  not  defending  Buchanan, 
and  I will  tell  Judge  Douglas  that  in  my  opinion,  when 
he  made  that  charge  he  had  an  eye  farther  north  than 
he  was  to-day.  He  was  then  fighting  against  people  who 
called  him  a Black  Republican  and  an  Abolitionist.  It  is 
mixed  all  through  his  speech,  and  it  is  tolerably  manifest 
that  his  eye  was  a great  deal  farther  north  than  it  is  to- 
day. The  Judge  says  that  though  he  made  this  charge, 
Toombs  got  up  and  declared  there  was  not  a man  in  the 
United  States,  except  the  editor  of  the  Union , who  was 
in  favor  of  the  doctrine  put  forth  in  that  article.  And 
thereupon,  I understand  that  the  Judge  withdrew  the  charge. 
Although  he  had  taken  extracts  from  the  newspaper, 


90 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  then  from  the  Lecompton  constitution,  to  show  the 
existence  of  a conspiracy  to  bring  about  a ‘fatal  blow’ 
by  which  the  States  were  to  be  deprived  of  the  right  of 
excluding  slavery,  it  all  went  to  pot  as  soon  as  Toombs 
got  up  and  told  him  it  was  not  true.  It  reminds  me  of 
the  story  that  John  Phoenix,  the  California  railroad  sur- 
veyor, tells.  He  says  they  started  out  from  Plaza  to  the 
Mission  of  Dolores.  They  had  two  ways  of  determining 
distances.  One  was  by  a chain  and  pins  taken  over  the 
ground.  The  other  was  by  a ‘go-it-ometer,’  an  invention 
of  his  own — a three-legged  instrument,  with  which  he 
computed  a series  of  triangles  between  the  points.  At 
night  he  turned  to  the  chain-man  to  ascertain  what  dis- 
tance they  had  come,  and  found  that  by  some  mistake  he 
had  merely  dragged  the  chain  over  the  ground  without  keep- 
ing any  record.  By  the  ‘go-it-ometer’  he  found  he  had 
made  ten  miles.  Being  skeptical  about  this,  he  asked  a 
drayman  who  was  passing  how  far  it  was  to  the  Plaza. 
The  drayman  replied  that  it  was  just  half  a mile,  and 
the  surveyor  put  it  down  in  his  book — just  as  Judge  Doug- 
las says,  after  he  had  made  his  calculations  and  compu- 
tations, he  took  Toombs’  statement.  I have  no  doubt  that 
after  Judge  Douglas  had  made  his  charge,  he  was  as 
easily  satisfied  about  its  truth  as  the  surveyor  was  of  the 
drayman’s  statement  of  the  distance  to  the  Plaza.  Yet  it 
is  a fact  that  the  man  who  put  forth  all  that  matter 
which  Douglas  deemed  a ‘ fatal  blow  ’ at  State  sovereignty, 
was  elected  by  the  Democrats  as  public  printer. 

“Now,  gentlemen,  you  may  take  Judge  Douglas’  speech 
of  March  22d,  1858,  beginning  about  the  middle  of  page 
21,  and  reading  to  the  bottom  of  page  24,  and  you  will 
find  the  evidence  on  which  I say  that  he  did  not  make 
his  charge  against  the  editor  of  the  Union  alone.  I can 
not  stop  to  read  it,  but  I will  give  it  to  the  reporters. 
Judge  Douglas  said: 

“ ‘Mr.  President,  you  here  find  several  distinct  proposi- 
tions advanced  boldly  by  the  Washington  Union,  editorially 
and  apparently  authoritatively , and  every  man  who  questions 
any  of  them  is  denounced  as  an  Abolitionist,  a Freesoiler, 
a fanatic.  The  propositions  are,  first,  that  the  primary 
object  of  all  government  at  its  original  institution  is  the 
protection  of  persons  and  property ; second,  that  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  declares  that  the  citizens 
of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  im- 
munities of  citizens  in  the  several  States ; and  that,  there- 
fore, thirdly,  all  State  laws,  whether  organic  or  otherwise, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


91 


which  prohibit  the  citizens  of  one  State  from  settling  in 
another  with  their  slave  property,  and  especially  declaring 
it  forfeited,  are  direct  violations  of  the  original  intention 
of  the  Government  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States ; 
and  fourth,  that  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  the 
Northern  States  was  a gross  outrage  on  the  rights  of 
property,  inasmuch  as  it  was  involuntarily  done  on  the 
part>  of  the  owner/ 

“Kemember  that  this  article  was  published  in  the  Union 
on  the  17th  of  November,  and  on  the  18th  appeared  the 
first  article  giving  the  adhesion  of  the  Union  to  the  Le- 
compton  constitution.  It  was  in  these  words : 

“ ‘Kansas  and  her  constitution. — The  vexed  question  is 
settled.  The  problem  is  solved.  The  dread  point  of  dan- 
ger is  passed.  All  serious  trouble  to  Kansas  affairs  is 
over  and  gone’ — 

“And  a column,  nearly,  of  the  same  sort.  Then,  when 
you  come  to  look  into  the  Lecompton  constitution,  you 
find  the  same  doctrine  incorporated  in  it  which  was  put 
forth  editorially  in  the  Union.  What  is  it? 

“ ‘Article  7,  section  1.  The  right  of  property  is  before 
and  higher  than  any  constitutional  sanction ; and  the  right 
of  the  owner  of  a slave  to  such  slave  and  its  increase,.  Is 
the  same  and  as  invariable  as  the  right  of  the  owner  of 
any  property  whatever.’ 

“Then  in  the  schedule  is  a provision  that  the  constitu- 
tion may  be  amended  after  1864  by  a two-thirds  vote. 

“ ‘But  no  alteration  shall  be  made  to  affect  the  right  of 
property  in  the  ownership  of  slaves.’ 

“It  will  be  seen  by  these  clauses  in  the  Lecompton  con- 
stitution that  they  are  identical  in  spirit  with  this  author- 
itative article  in  the  Washington  Union  of  the  da^  previous 
to  its  indorsement  of  this  constitution. 

“When  I saw  that  article  in  the  Union  of  the  17th  of 
November,  followed  by  the  glorification  of  the  Lecompton 
constitution  on  the  18th  of  November,  and  this  clause  in 
the  constitution  asserting  the  doctrine  that  a State  has  no 
right  to  prohibit  slavery  within  its  limits,  I saw  that  there 
was  a fatal  blow  being  struck  at  the  sovereignty  of  the 
States  of  this  Union. 

“Here  he  says,  ‘Mr.  President,  you  here  find  several 
distinct  propositions  advanced  boldly,  and  apparently 
authoritatively .’  By  whose  authority,  Judge  Douglas? 
Again,  he  says  in  another  place,  ‘It  will  be  seen  by  these 
clauses  in  the  Lecompton  constitution,  that  they  are  iden- 
tical in  spirit  with  this  authoritative  article.’  By  whose 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


authority?  Who  do  you  mean  to  say  authorized  the  pub- 
lication of  these  articles?  He  knows  that  the  Washington 
Union  is  considered  the  organ  of  the  administration.  I 
demand  of  Judge  Douglas  by  whose  authority  he  meant  to 
say  those . articles  were  published,  if  not  by  the  authority 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  cabinet? 
I defy  him  to  show  whom  he  referred  to,  if  not  to  these 
high  functionaries  in  the  Federal  Government.  More  than 
this,  he  says  the  articles  in  that  paper  and  the  provision 
of  the  Lecompton  constitution  are  ‘identical/  and  being 
identical,  he  argues  that  the  authors  are  co-operating  and 
conspiring  together.  He  does  not  use  the  word  ‘conspir- 
ing/ but  what  other  construction  can  you  put  upon  it? 
He  winds  up  with  this : 

“ ‘When  I saw  that  article  in  the  Union  of  the  17th  of 
November,  followed  by  the  glorification  of  the  Lecompton 
constitution  on  the  18th  of  November,  and  this  clause  in 
the  constitution  asserting  the  doctrine  that  a State  has 
no  right  to  prohibit  slavery  within  its  limits,  I saw  that 
there  was  a fatal  blow  being  struck  at  the  sovereignty  of 
the  States  of  this  Union.’ 

“ I ask  him  if  all  this  fuss  was  made  over  the  editor  of 
this  newspaper.  It  would  be  a terribly  ‘fatal  blow’  indeed, 
which  a single  man  could  strike,  when  no  President,  no 
Cabinet  officer,  no  member  of  Congress,  was  giving  strength 
and  efficiency  to  the  movement.  Out  of  respect  to  Judge 
Douglas’  good  sense,  I must  believe  he  didn’t  manufacture 
his  idea  of  the  ‘fatal’  character  of  that  blow  out  of  such 
a miserable  scapegrace  as  he  represents  that  editor  to  be. 
But  the  Judge’s  eye  is  farther  south  now.  Then,  it  was 
very  peculiarly  and  decidedly  north.  His  hope  rested  on 
the  idea  of  visiting  the  great  ‘Black  Republican’  party, 
and  making  it  the  tail  of  his  new  kite.  He  knows  he  was 
then  expecting  from  day  to  day  to  turn  Republican  and 
place  himself  at  the  head  of  our  organization.  He  has 
found  that  these  despised  ‘Black  Republicans’  estimate  him 
by  a standard  which  he  has  taught  them  none  too  well, 
lienee  he  is  crawling  back  into  his  old  camp,  and  you  will 
find  him  eventually  installed  in  full  fellowship  among  those 
whom  he  was  then  battling,  and  with  whom  he  now  pre- 
tends to  be  at  such  fearful  variance.  (Loud  applause  and 
cries  of  ‘Go  on,  go  on.’)  I can  not,  gentlemen,  my  time 
has  expired.” 

There  had  been  a disposition  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln’s 
political  friends  to  see  that  he  adopted  such  a line  of  policy 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


93 


as  would  prevent  Mr.  Douglas  from  taking  an  undue  ad- 
vantage of  him.  They  had  an  idea  that  they  knew  more 
about  conducting  the  campaign  than  Mr.  Lincoln  could 
possibly  know;  and  when  he  propounded  to  Douglas  the 
four  questions  embraced  in  his  opening  speech  on  this 
occasion,  they  felt  that  he  had  done  just  what  Douglas 
wanted  him  to  do,  and  they  said  to  him  that  he  had  al- 
ready as  good  as  elected  Douglas  to  the  Senate.  The 
unerring  foresight  of  Lincoln  was  incomprehensible.  His 
reply  was:  “That  may  be,  but  it  will  defeat  him  for  the 
Presidency.”  So  it  proved,  for  it  was  the  answers  which 
Douglas  gave  to  those  questions  which  lost  him  the  sup- 
port of  the  South  in  the  campaign  of  1860,  and  this  divi- 
sion of  the  Democratic  party  gave  the  Presidency  to  the 
Republicans. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  Nation,  these  men  were  regarded  as 
intellectual  giants;  but  while  they  were  giants,  there  was 
as  much  difference  between  them  on  the  issue  they  dis- 
cussed, as  there  is  between  day  and  night.  Douglas  was 
ambitious  for  the  Presidency,  and  really  believed  in  the 
right  of  the  people  to  hold  colored  men  as  slaves;  and 
while  in  fact  he  was  opposed  to  the  further  extension  of 
slavery,  yet  he  was  in  favor  of  allowing  the  people  who 
framed  the  constitutions  of  the  new  States  the  right  to 
settle  the  question  for  themselves.  Lincoln,  on  the  other 
hand,  recognized  slavery  as  a great  moral  wrong,  but  he 
also  recognized  the  right  of  the  owners  of  slaves  to  their 
property  under  existing  laws,  and  was  unwilling  to  disturb 
them  in  that  right ; yet  he  was  unalterably  opposed  to  the 
further  extension  of  slavery.  He  was  not  an  Abolitionist 
in  the  sense  that  Sumner,  Giddings  or  Hale  were  held. 
There  was  no  prejudice  in  his  mind  against  the  Southern 
people.  There  was  nothing  denunciatory  in  the  language 
of  his  speeches.  He  held  to  the  principle  of  equity  in 
regard  to  the  rights  of  the  owners  of  slaves,  which  was 


94 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


not  possessed  by  any  other  leading  man  in  the  anti-slavery 
party.  He  sought  justice  for  all  men,  and  all  sections, 
and  it  was  these  principles  which  finally  won  for  him  the 
leadership  of  the  party  which  had  fought  the  existence  or 
extension  of  slavery  in  so  many  forms,  and  gave  to  him 
such  a proud  position  in  the  statesmanship  of  the  civilized 
world. 


CHAPTER  VII, 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1859, 


Governor — William  H.  Bissell. 

Lieutenant-Governor — John  Wood. 

Secretary  of  State — 0.  M.  Hatch. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Jesse  K.  Dubois. 

Treasurer — William  Butler. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 


Twenty-fibst  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-first  General  Assembly  convened  January  3, 
and  consisted  of  the  following  members : 

Senate. 


Norman  B.  Judd,  Cook. 
Henry  W.  Blodgett,  Lake. 
Zenas  Applington,  Ogle. 

J.  H.  Addams,  Stephenson. 
Biehard  F.  Adams,  Lee. 
G.  D.  A.  Parks,  Will. 

B.  C.  Cook,  LaSalle. 

Geo.  C.  Bestor,  Peoria. 

T.  J.  Henderson,  Stark. 
Wm.  C.  Goudy,  Fulton. 

J.  P.  Richmond,  Schuyler. 
Austin  Brooks,  Adams. 

C.  L.  Higbee,  Pike. 


A.  L.  Knapp,  Jersey. 

C.  W.  Vanderen,  Sangamon. 
Joel  S.  Post,  Macon. 

Sam’l  W.  Fuller,  Tazewell. 

T.  A.  Marshall,  Coles. 
Mortimer  O’Kean,  Jasper. 
Silas  L.  Bryan,  Marion. 

S.  A.  Buckmaster,  Madison. 
Wm.  H.  Underwood,  St.Clair. 
Sam’l  H.  Martin,  White. 

E.  C.  Coffey,  Washington. 

A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Johnson. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


95 


House  of  Representatives. 


Wm.  A.  Hacker,  Union. 
Wm.  H.  Green,  Massac. 

J.  D.  Pulley,  Johnson, 
Thos.  S.  Hick,,  Gallatin. 

J.  Hampton,  Franklin. 

J.  E.  Detrich,  Randolph. 

J.  D.  Wood,  Washington. 
J.  Mcllvaine,  Hamilton, 

W.  B.  Anderson,  Jefferson. 
John  G.  Powell,  White. 

R.  T.  Forth,  Wayne. 

W.  R.  Morrison,  Monroe. 
John  Scheel,  St.  Clair. 
Vital  Jarrot,  St.  Clair. 
Chas.  Hoiles,  Bond. 

Z.  B.  Job,  Madison. 

J.  H.  Sloss,  Madison. 

S.  Hardin,  Effingham. 

W.  J.  Stephenson,  Clay. 

H.  C.  McCleave,  Crawford. 
J.  Updegraff,  Clark. 

T.  Brewer,  Cumberland. 

J.  M.  Davis,  Montgomery. 
W.  C.  Shirley,  Macoupin. 
F.  P.  Rush,  Calhoun. 

Alex.  King,  Greene. 

Robt.  Mosely,  Edgar. 

Wm.  W.  Craddock,  Coles. 
J.  W.  Barrett,  Sangamon. 
Dan’l  Short,  Sangamon. 
Cyrus  Epler,  Morgan. 
Elisha  B.  Hitt,  Scott. 
Gilbert  J.  Shaw,  Pike. 
King  Kerley,  Brown. 

Moses  M.  Bane,  Adams. 
Western  Metcalf,  Adams. 
Lewis  D.  Erwin,  Schuyler. 
W.  H.  Rosevelt,  Hancock. 


Wm.  Berry,  McDonough. 

J.  G.  Graham,  Fulton. 

S.  P.  Cummings,  Fulton. 
Wm.  Engle,  Menard. 

Geo.  H.  Campbell,  Logan. 
Dan’l  S,tickel,  DeWitt. 

0.  F.  Harmon,  Vermilion. 
Leonard  Swett,  McLean. 

R.  B.  M.  Wilson,  Tazewell. 
Wm.  C.  Rice,  Henderson, 
Thos.  C.  Moore,  Peoria. 
Myrtle  G.  Brace,  Stark. 

J.S.  McCall,  Marshall. 

Alex.  Campbell,  LaSalle. 

R.  S.  Hicks,  Livingston. 

Val.  Vermilyea,  Kendall. 
Hiram  Norton,  Will. 

Alonzo  W.  Mack,  Kankakee. 
J.  M.  Hood,  DuPage. 

Wm.  Patton,  DeKalb, 

Wm.  B.  Plato,  Kane. 

John  H.  Bryant,  Bureau. 

E.  Gilmore.  Jr.,  Rock  Island. 
Wm.  Prothrow,  Whiteside. 
Joshua  White,  Ogle. 

James  DeWolf,  Carroll. 

H.  S.  Townsend,  JoDaviess. 

J.  A.  Davis,  Stephenson. 

E.  W.  Blaisdell,  jr.,  Winnebago 
L.  H.  Church,  McHenry. 

S.  A.  Hurlbut,  Boone. 

Elijah  M.  Haines,  Lake. 

Van  H.  Higgins,  Cook. 
Samuel  L.  Baker,  Cook. 
Ebenezer  Peck,  Cook. 

Casper  Butz,  Cook. 

Rufus  W.  Miles,  Knox. 


Lieutenant-Governor  John  Wood  presided  over  the  Sen- 
ate, and  Finney  D.  Preston,  of  Richland,  was  elected 
Secretary,  over  J.  W.  Schaffer,  of  Stephenson,  by  a vote 
of  14  to  11. 


<96 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


W.  R.  Morrison,  of  Monroe,  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  over  Vital  Jarrot,  of  St.  Clair,  by  vive  voce  vote, 
and  David  E.  Head,  of  Hancock,  was  elected  Clerk,  over 
Christopher  C.  Brown,  of  Sangamon,  by  a vote  of  40 
to  34. 

Among  the  new  members  of  this  assembly  who  were 
able  and  active,  were : Blodgett,  Brooks,  Higbee,  Knapp, 
Marshall,  Buckmaster,  Hacker,  Green,  Thomas  S.  Hick, 
Swett,  Mack,  Plato,  Bryant,  Hurlbut,  Peck,  Haines. 

The  message  of  Governor  Bissell  was  laid  before  the 
two  houses  on  the  5th.  He  congratulated  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  happy  and  prosperous  condition  of  the 
State  in  these  words : 

“Each  recurring  session  of  our  Legislature  brings  with 
it  increasing  cause  of  gladness  at  the  rapid  and  marvel- 
ous advances  which  we,  as  the  people  of  a sovereign 
State,  are  making  in  all  the  elements  of  National  great- 
ness. Our  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  condition  is 
advancing  with  a rapidity  probably  never  equalled  in  any 
age,  nor  among  any  people  on  the  globe.  Our  almost 
limitless  prairies  are  being  converted,  as  if  by  magic,  into 
fertile  and  teeming  fields,  the  produce  of  wThich,  finding 
cheap  and  speedy  transit  over  our  magnificent  rivers  and 
railroads  to  the  best  markets  in  the  world,  is  enriching 
our  farmers,  and  creating  and  sustaining  a healthful  busi- 
ness in  all  the  useful  departments  of  life ; while  the  steady 
and  rapid  multiplication  of  school  houses,  for  the  common 
as  well  as  higher  schools,  throughout  the  State,  give  evi- 
dence, alike  conclusive  and  gratifying,  that  the  impor- 
tant matter  of  educating  the  rising  generation  is  beginning 
to  receive  from  our  citizens  that  degree  of  attention  which 
its  real  importance  demands.” 

He  showed  that  the  State  debt  and  the  arrears  of  interest 
had  been  reduced  during  the  years  1857-58,  $1,166,876.74, 
leaving  a balance  of  principal  and  arrears  of  interest  of 
$11,138,453.93.  He  advised  less  legislation  on  private  or 
trivial  matters,  and  recommended'  that  the  laws  enacted 
should  be  few  and  general.  He  recommended  legislation 
in  the  interest  of  agriculture,  the  charitable  institutions, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


97 


Normal  University,  public  instruction,  banking  and  other 
general  subjects,  such  as  a school  for  idiots,  criminal 
code  and  the  militia.  On  questions  political  he  said: 

“I  took  occasion  in  my  first  annual  message  to  refer  to 
disturbing  questions  which  then  agitated  and  continue  to 
agitate  the  country.  It  is  to  be  deplored  that  any  question 
exists  so  important  and  yet  so  complex  as  to  disturb  the 
perfect  amity  which  should  prevail  in  a government  con- 
stituted like  ours. 

“Instead  of  a decrease  of  causes  of  complaint,  new  sub- 
jects of  a disturbing  character  are  presented,  until  it  would 
seem  that  a fixed  determination  prevails  to  deprave  public 
sentiment,  and  accustom  it  to  aggressions,  until  either 
through  exhaustion  or  indifference  all  opposition  to  nation- 
alizing slavery  shall  subside  or  become  inert. 

“The  decision  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  known  to 
our  country,  apparently  designed  to  encourage  the  belief 
that  slavery  may  and  does  of  right  lawfully  exist  in  all 
the  Territories,  if  not  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  was 
a backward  step  in  the  march  of  civilization,  which  has 
excited  the  surprise  and  regret  of  a very  large  portion  of 
all  the  people  of  the  Union. 

“While  the  belief  is  inculcated  that  the  hand  of  Provi- 
dence has  marked  out  a chosen  boundary  within  which  no 
other  institutions  than  such  as  are  sustained  by  human 
slavery  can  be  prosperous  or  produce  the  results  desirable 
for  the  promotion  of  human  welfare,  and  while  negroes 
are  openly  imported  and  landed  on  our  coasts,  in  defiance 
of  law,  without  any  apparent  probability  of  punishment 
for  the  outrage,  or  of  preventing  its  recurrence,  it  may  be 
vain  to  hope  that  any  harmony  will  be  very  soon  estab- 
lished in  reference  to  this  disturbing  question. 

“The  public  mind  does  not  find  in  such  action  any  im- 
mediate prospect  of  repose.  The  anomalous  condition  of 
things  in  this  regard  is  an  admonition  to  us  that  vigilance 
in  the  protection  of  human  freedom  and  human  rights 
should  be  quickened,  or  the  permanent  elevation  and  hap- 
piness of  the  white  race  will  be  endangered. 

“To  avoid  the  perils  that  surround  our  institutions,  and 
to  perpetuate  freedom  and  extend  the  blessings  of  liberty 
designed  and  left  us  as  an  inheritance  by  our  forefathers, 
it  is  important  that  we  should  not  shrink  from  such  a 
declaration  of  our  opinions,  and  from  such  positive  action 
as  will  effectually  arrest  further  aggressions  upon  the  laws 
of  the  Nation  and  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 

—7 


98 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“In  an  age  so  prone  to  misrepresentation  as  the  present,, 
our  devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  cannot  be 
too  frequently  nor  too  distinctly  declared.  In  view  of  this, 
I cannot  forbear  placing  upon  record  my  protest,  embody- 
ing, as  I believe,  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Illinois, 
against  the  idea  and  against  any  national  policy  conform- 
ing to  the  idea  that  the  Almighty  has  drawn  a line  on 
this  continent  on  one  side  of  which  the  soil  must  be  cul- 
tivated by  slave  labor.” 

On  the  6th  of  January  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives met  in  joint  session  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
a United  States  Senator;  Stephen  A.  Douglas  received 
64  votes  and  Abraham  Lincoln  46.  Douglas  having  re- 
ceived a majority  of  all  the  votes  cast,  was  declared  duly 
elected  for  the  term  of  six  years,  from  March,  1859. 

The  duration  of  the  session  was  fifty-two  days.  Outside 
of  the  election  of  Senator,  there  was  little  of  an  exciting 
nature,  and  the  laws  enacted,  other  than  those  which  per- 
tained to  the  carrying  on  of  the  State  government  and  the 
institutions,  were  local  in  character.  A joint  resolution 
was  passed  asking  Congress  for  the  immediate  construc- 
tion of  a building  at  Springfield,  for  the  accommodation  of 
United  States  courts,  pension,  land  and  post  offices,  and 
also  a joint  resolution  recommending  that  at  the  next 
election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  the  electors 
vote  for  or  against  calling  a convention  to  form  a new 
constitution. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


99 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1860. 


Four  State  Tickets— Four  Electoral  Tickets— Aggregate  Vote  for  State 
Officers— Aggregate  Vote  for  Congressmen,  by  Districts— Aggregate 
Vote  for  Electors— How  Lovejoy  Conquered  Prejudice— An  Attempt  to 
Kidnap  Richard  Yates— How  Lovejoy  Helped  the  Democrats— Yates  and 
the  Kentucky  Colonel—4*  It  Made  Our  Very  Hair  Frizzle.” 


The  Republicans  were  early  in  opening  the  campaign. 
They  assembled  in  State  Convention  on  the  9th  of  May. 
Richard  Yates  was  nominated  for  Governor,  Francis  A. 
Hoffman  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  Jesse  K.  Dubois  for 
Auditor,  Wm.  Butler  for  Treasurer,  0.  M.  Hatch  for  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  Newton  Bateman  for  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction.  A resolution  favoring  the  nomina- 
tion of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  President  was  unanimously 
adopted. 

On  the  13th  of  June  the  Democrats  met  at  Springfield 
and  nominated  James  C.  Allen  for  Governor,  L.  W.  Ross 
for  Lieutenant-Governor,  G.  H.  Campbell  for  Secretary  of 
State,  Bernard  Arntzen  for  Auditor,  Hugh  Maher  for  Treas- 
urer, and  E.  R.  Roe  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. They  endorsed  the  candidacy  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
for  the  Presidency. 

The  Buchanan  Democracy  held  their  State  convention 
at  the  same  place,  on  the  11th  of  July,  and  nominated 
Thomas  M.  Hope  for  Governor,  Thomas  Snell  for  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, B.  T.  Burke  for  Secretary  of  State,  Henry 
S.  Smith  for  Auditor,  W.  H.  Cather  for  Treasurer,  and 


100 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


J.  H.  Dennis  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 
This  convention  was  composed  chiefly  of  Federal  office 
holders. 

The  Bell  and  Everett  party — Native  American— held 
their  State  convention  as  late  as  August  16,  at  Decatur. 
John  T.  Stuart  was  nominated  for  Governor,  Henry  S.  Black- 
burn for  Lieutenant-Governor,  James  Monroe  for  Secretary 
of  State,  James  D.  Smith  for  Auditor,  Jonathan  Stamper 
for  Treasurer,  and  D.  J.  Snow  for  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  had  assembled  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  April  23,  with  full  delegations 
from  every  State,  and  after  fifty-seven  ineffectual  ballots 
for  a candidate  for  President,  seven  of  the  Southern  States 
withdrew,  when  the  convention  adjourned,  to  meet  at  Bal- 
timore, June  18,  at  which  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  nomi- 
nated for  President,  and  B.  Fitzpatrick,  of  Georgia,  for 
Vice-President,  but  Fitzpatrick  declined  the  nomination, 
and  Hershell  V.  Johnson,  of  the  same  State,  was  substi- 
tuted by  the  National  Committee.  The  Seceders  met  in 
the  same  city,  June  22,  and  nominated  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge, of  Kentucky,  for  President,  and  Joseph  Lane,  of 
Oregon,  for  Vice-President. 

A “ Constitutional  Union  ” convention  from  twenty  States 
met  at  Baltimore,  May  9,  and  nominated  John  Bell,  of 
Tennessee,  and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  the 
Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  assembled  at  Chi- 
cago, May  16,  and  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  for  Vice-President. 

The  novel  spectacle  of  four  State  tickets  and  four  Presi- 
dential tickets  was  presented  to  our  people  for  the  first 
and  perhaps  the  last  time. 

The  contest  was  remarkable  in  character.  The  four 
Presidential  tickets  made  it  necessary  to  present  four  sets 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


101 


of  State  and  District  Electors,  which,  added  to  the  candi- 
dates on  the  respective  State  tickets,  presented  an  array 
of  speaking  talent  that  was  never  before,  nor  since,  wit- 
nessed in  any  political  struggle  in  our  State.  But  the 
real  issue  was  between  the  Republican  party  and  the 
Douglas  Democracy.  Richard  Yates  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  ablest,  if  not  the  ablest  and  most  impressive  speak- 
er in  the  country,  while  James  C.  Allen  was  as  near  his 
peer  as  any  man  within  the  Democratic  lines.  Each 
made  an  extended  canvass,  speaking  day  and  night  to  con- 
gregated thousands  of  anxious  hearers.  The  issue  was 
National — the  slavery  question — and  while  Allen  presented 
the  views  of  his  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  with  mas- 
terly ability,  it  was  apparent  that  the  popular  heart  in 
the  more  enlightened  districts  was  with  Yates,  and  that 
the  people  felt  that  the  Republican  party  was  not  only 
progressive  in  character,  but  that  it  was  sound  in  its 
theory  as  to  the  proper  solution  of  the  vexed  question  of 
slavery,  and  when  the  election  returns  came  in  it  was 
shown  that  the  Republicans  had  carried  the  Presidential 
and  State  tickets,  and  both  branches  of  the  Legislature. 
Yates  run  1,090  ahead  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  and  Allen 
999  ahead  of  Douglas  and  Johnson.  The  Breckinridge 
and  Lane  vote  was  2,292,  and  Bell  and  Everett  4,851. 
The  Republican  vote  for  President  was  171,106,  and  the 
Douglas  vote  was  158,254. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressmen  and 
Presidential  Electors  is  as  follows: 

Governor. 


Richard  Yates 172,196 

James  C.  Allen,  D 159,258 

T.  M.  Hope,  B.  D 2,049 

John  T.  Stuart,  B.  E 1,626 

Scattering 1,27.9 


102  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

F.  A.  Hoffman,  R 171,757 

Lewis  W.  Ross,  D . 158,883 

Thomas  Snell,  B.  D 1,909 

H.  C.  Blackburn,  B.  E 3,569 

J.  W.  Bushnell 43 

Scattering 36 

Secretary  of  State. 

0.  M.  Hatch,  R 172,836 

G.  H.  Campbell,  D 160,298 

B.  T.  Burke,  B.  D 2,022 

Jas.  Monroe,  B.  E 3,459 

Auditor. 

J.  K.  Dubois,  R 173,101 

B.  Arntzen,  D 159,841 

H.  S.  Smith,  B.  D 2,127 

J.  D.  Smith,  B.  E 3,400 

Treasurer. 

Wm.  Butler,  R 172,622 

Hugh  Maher,  D 160,923 

W.  H.  Gather,  B.  D 1,967 

Jonathan  Stamper,  B.  E 3,417 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

N.  Bateman,  R 173,064 

E.  R.  Roe,  D 160,143 

D.  J.  Snow,  B.  E 3,314 

J.  H.  Dennis,  B.  D 1,998 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

E.  B.  Washburne,  R 21,436 

Theodore  A.  C.  Beard 8,929 

Scattering 14 

Second  District. 

Isaac  N.  Arnold,  R 30,834 

Augustus  M.  Herrington 16,950 

Scattering 72 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


103 


Third  District. 

Owen  Lovejoy,  E 29,600 

Robert  N.  Murray 18,848 

William  N.  Murry 884 

Scattering 69 

Fourth  District. 

William  Kellogg,  R 25,668 

Robt.  G.  Ingersoll 21,297 

Scattering.... 15 

Fifth  District. 

William  A.  Richardson,  D 16,946 

Benj.  M.  Prentiss 14,684 

Scattering 20 

Sixth  District. 

John  A.  McClernand,  D 21,206 

Henry  Case 16,244 

Scattering 7 

Seventh  District. 

James  C.  Robinson,  D 19,206 

Jas.  T.  Cunningham 16,313 

Scattering 10 

Eighth  District. 

Philip  B.  Fouke,  D 16,592 

Joseph  Gillespie 13,315 

Willis  D.  Green 129 

Ninth  District. 

John  A.  Logan,  D 20,863 

David  T.  Linegar 5,207 

Scattering 165 

Presidential  Electors — Lincoln,  R. 

Leonard  Swett 171,106 

John  M.  Palmer 171,126 

Allen  C.  Fuller 171,110 

William  B.  Plato 171,137 

Lawrence  Welden 171,019 

William  P.  Kellogg 171,029 

James  Stark  ....  171,021 


104 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


James  C.  Conkling 170,709 

Henry  P.  H.  Bromwell 171,021 

Thomas  G.  Allen 171,035 

John  Olney 171,018 

Douglas,  D. 

James  L.  D.  Morrison 158,254 

William  H.  W.  Cushman 158,257 

John  A.  Rawlins 158,233 

J.  Wilson  Drury 158,248 

Samuel  W.  Randall 158,244 

S.  Corning  Judd 158,246 

Calvin  A.  Warren 158,247 

Anthony  Thornton 158,248 

Nathan  W.  Tupper 158,248 

William  H.  Underwood 158,246 

Isham  N.  Haynie 158,244 

Breckinridge,  B.  D. 

John  Dougherty 2,292 

Thompson  Campbell 2,292 

William  Shannon,  Jr 2,292 

John  C.  Ambler . 2,292 

Norman  H.  Purple 2,293 

William  C.  Wagley 2,292 

John  L.  McConnel 2,288 

John  E.  Cummings 2,292 

J.  M.  Hawley 2,111 

John  E.  Neil 2,147 

Justus  Stevens 2,292 

Bell,  C.  U. 

M.  Y.  Johnson 4,851 

David  M.  Woodson 4,803 

H.  S.  Hanchett 4,819 

John  G.  Rogers 4,811 

Josiah  Snow 4,798 

Alexander  J.  Frick 4,811 

C.  M.  Irwin 4,811 

David  A.  Brown 4,811 

John  Kofer 4,811 

L.  Noland 4,809 

W.  J.  Yost 4,770 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


105- 


How  Love  joy  Conquered  Prejudice. 

In  this  campaign,  Gov.  Palmer,  then  a Republican,  and 
from  early  manhood  an  Abolitionist  in  principle,  and  al- 
ways an  outspoken  friend  of  the  colored  race,  refused  to 
take  the  stump  for  the  Republican  ticket  unless  the  Re- 
publican leaders  would  consent  to  send  to  his  section 
some  of  the  pronounced  Abolitionists  of  the  country,  such 
as  Sumner,  Giddings,  Hale  or  Lovejov,  contending  that 
he  had  been  the  apologist  for  the  views  of  these  men  as 
long  as  he  wished;  that  as  Republicans  they  could  not 
longer  disguise  the  fact  that  they  were  in  reality  Aboli- 
tionists, and  he  was  in  favor  of  meeting  the  issue  fairly 
and  squarely.  Finally  he  overpowered  the  views  of  the 
local  committee  and  an  application  was  made  to  the  State 
Central  Committee  for  one  or  more  of  these  speakers, 
and  an  appointment  was  made  for  Owen  Lovejoy  at  Te~ 
gard’s  Mill,  in  the  corner  of  the  counties  of  Greene,  Jersey 
and  Macoupin.  Norman  B.  Judd  and  John  H.  Bryant,, 
brother  of  the  poet,  accompanied  Mr.  Lovejoy,  but  when 
they  reached  Carlinville,  where  they  were  to  remain  over 
night,  none  of  the~Republicans  were  willing  to  entertain 
Mr.  Lovejoy,  and  Gov.  Palmer,  a recognized  Abolitionist, 
was  quietly  requested  to  allow  him  to  become  his  guest, 
which  he  did.  Next  day,  when  they  arrived  at  the  place 
of  meeting,  they  found  full  five  thousand  people  assembled, 
most  of  whom  came  through  curiosity,  simply  to  see 
the  wonderful  Abolitionist.  In  all  that  number  it 
is  said  there  were  not  five  hundred  Republicans.  The 
stand  from  which  Lovejoy  was  to  speak  had  been  boarded 
up  on  all  sides,  leaving  only  a doorway.  A short  time 
before  the  speaking  was  to  begin,  Mr.  Palmer  obtained  an 
axe  and  walking  deliberately  into  the  stand  said,  in  his 
pleasant  off-hand  way : “Gentlemen,  we  have  with  us  to- 
day the  wonderful  Abolitionist,  Owen  Lovejoy;  you  have 
seen  that  Jke  has  neither  horns  nor  tail,  and  now  I will 


106 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


allow  you  to  see  that  he  has  no  hoofs,”  at  the  same  time 
knocking  the  boards  from  all  sides  of  the  stand  so  as  to 
expose  the  person  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  to  full  view.  The  effect 
of  this  undreamed  of  proceeding  put  everybody  in  a good 
humor,  and  Mr.  Lovejoy,  humoring  the  fun  Mr.  Palmer  had 
had  at  his  expense,  came  forward  with  his  face  wreathed 
in  smiles  and  commenced  his  address  without  a thought 
as  to  the  character  of  his  audience,  speaking  for  over  two 
hours;  and  it  is  said  by  those  who  had  heard  him  on 
many  occasions  before  that  he  never  made  a more  effec- 
tive speech  in  his  life.  There  were  a thousand  people  in 
tears.  He  had  conquered  prejudice,  simply  by  his  power 
of  eloquence.  That  night  there  was  no  trouble  about  his 
getting  shelter. 

An  Attempt  to  Kidnap  Richard  Yates. 

This  campaign  was  one  of  the  most  hotly  contested 
struggles  ever  witnessed  in  Southern  Illinois,  and  the  in- 
cident of  which  we  write  occurred  in  Gallatin  county, 
which  was  then  regarded  as  the  fountain  head  of  pure 
Democracy.  It  had  been  the  early  home  of  many  of  the 
great  lights  of  the  party,  and  every  attempt  to  dispute 
its  authority  was  regarded  as  an  invasion  of  sacred  rights. 
Indeed,  the  people  were  so  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the 
Democracy,  that  an  outspoken  Republican  was  held  in 
extreme  contempt.  But  in  this  campaign  the  political 
world  was  moving,  and  the  Democracy  were  thoroughly 
aroused  to  the  necessity  of  disputing  every  inch  of  ground 
with  their  Republican  adversary.  The  Republicans,  few 
as  they  were  in  number,  were  equally  in  earnest,  and 
there  was  hot  blood  in  every  quarter.  The  Democracy 
opened  the  campaign  at  Shawneetown  with  a grand  bar- 
becue. It  was  a great  meeting,  and  was  addressed  by  Gov. 
A.  P.  Willard  of  Indiana,  John  A.  Logan,  candidate  for 
Congress,  and  Lewis  W.  Ross,  candidate  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  in  the  order  in  which  their  names  appear. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


107 


The  speech  of  Mr.  Willard,  who  at  that  time  was  re- 
garded as  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  champion  of  the 
Democratic  party  of  the  Northwest,  was  a powerful 
arraignment  of  the  Eepublican  party,  and  it  caused  many 
of  the  new  converts  to  waver  in  their  devotion  to  the 
cause  they  had  so  lately  espoused,  and  to  have  judged 
the  situation  from  the  temper  of  that  meeting  would 
have  been  to  predict  a signal  victory  for  the  Democratic 
party.  But  weak  as  the  Bepublicans  were,  they  were  not 
to  be  overwhelmed  by  this  single  blow,  and  they  set  them- 
selves about  to  hold  a similar  meeting  upon  the 
identical  spot.  Preparations  were  made  for  a bar- 
becue, and  a cordial  invitation  was  extended  to  the 
people  from  far  and  near  to  be  present,  and  hear  Eepub- 
lican principles  discussed  from  a Eepublican  standpoint. 
Eichard  Yates,  the  Eepublican  candidate  for  Governor, 
was  positively  announced  to  address  the  meeting.  He 
was  then  in  the  very  prime  of  manhood.  The  Democrats 
were  afraid  of  his  power  on  the  stump,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined by  a few  of  the  most  daring  of  that  party,  that  he 
should  be  kidnapped,  and  thus  prevent  his  appearance  at 
the  meeting.  (The  writer  was  then  a resident  of  Gallatin 
county,  and  was  one  of  those  who  did  not  wish  to  hear 
Mr.  Yates  speak.)  He  had  spoken  the  day  before  at  Carmi. 
The  road  on  which  he  was  expected  to  arrive  was  care- 
fully guarded,  and  every  precaution  taken  to  make  sure 
of  his  capture.  An  all-night  watch  was  kept  up,  but  in 
an  unguarded  moment  the  sentinels  slept,  and  Yates,  un- 
conscious of  their  designs  upon  his  liberty,  arrived  safely 
during  the  night  in  company  with  Eobert  Kirkham,  (now 
Colonel)  and  next  day  he  appeared  in  due  time  as  the 
fearless  champion  of  the  Eepublican  party.  The  meeting 
was  fully  as  large  as  that  held  by  the  Democracy,  but 
there  were  comparatively  few  Eepublicans  present.  Many 
came  through  curiosity;  others  for  mischief.  Yates  had 


108 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


hardly  taken  his  seat  on  the  stand  before  a series  of 
hideous  groans  rent  the  air.  But  when  the  speaker  was 
formally  introduced  the  noise  and  confusion  knew  no 
bounds,  and  it  continued  until  Daniel  Jacobs,  a life-long 
Democrat,  mounted  a spring  wagon  which  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  throng,  and  declared  in  a tone  loud  enough 
to  be  heard  by  all,  that  the  distinguished  speaker  should 
be  heard,  or  he  himself  would  be  taken  from  the  grounds 
a corpse  and  then  and  there,  announced  his  abandonment 
of  the  Democratic  party.  This  bold  and  daring  declara- 
tion brought  order  out  of  confusion,  when  Mr.  Yates  pro- 
ceeded with  his  address  without  further  interruption,  save 
an  occasional  question  from  some  of  the  advanced  thinkers 
of  the  Democratic  party  as  to  his  position  upon  the  “black 
laws”  and  negro  equality,  subjects  which  were  the  stock  in 
trade  of  the  Democratic  leaders  of  that  section.  But  time 
brings  many  changes  in  politics.  Some  of  the  very  men 
who  were  foremost  in  the  effort  to  break  up  that  meeting 
are  now  leaders  in  the  Republican  party;  and  the  name 
of  Yates  is  held  in  dear  remembrance  by  many  who  heard 
him  on  that  memorable  occasion. 

How  Lovejoy  Helped  the  Democrats. 

In  this  campaign,  James  S.  Martin,  now  General,  of  Salem, 
was  a Democrat,  and  being  anxious  to  swell  the  Democratic 
vote  of  Marion  county,  he  proposed  to  the  Republican  lead- 
ers that  if  they  would  get  up  a meeting  for  Owen  Lovejoy, 
that  the  Democrats  would  assist  in  defraying  the  expenses. 
Relating  the  circumstance  to  the  writer,  he  said  Lovejoy 
had  not  proceeded  far  with  his  address  before  the  Demo- 
crats became  satisfied  that  they  had  made  a bad  invest- 
ment. The  speech,  said  he,  was  one  of  the  finest  he  ever 
listened  to,  and  that  when  referring  to  the  unfortunate 
condition  of  the  down-trodden  negro,  he  brought  tears  to 
the  e^es  of  strong  men  whose  Democracy  was  thought  to* 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


109 


be  unflinching,  and  instead  of  augmenting  the  Democratic 
vote,  it  added  new  followers  to  the  Eepublican  cause. 

Yates  and  the  Kentucky  Colonel. 

This  anecdote  of  Gov.  Yates  comes  from  an  eye-witness : 

After  making  a speech  at  Shawneetown,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made,  Yates  took  a steamer  for  Evansville, 

Ind.  On  the  boat  Col.  C , of  Kentucky,  walked  up  in 

front  of  him,  and  in  a haughty  and  insulting  manner  said : 

“I  heard  your  speech  to-day,  sir;  you  insulted  our  peo- 
ple, sir!  Now,  by  Jupiter,  I’ll  let  you  know  I am  a Ken- 
tuckian, sir!  And,  by  Jupiter,  I will  teach  you — ” 

Yates  sprang  up  without  waiting  for  the  end  of  the  sen- 
tence, and  exclaimed: 

“And  I’ll  let  you  know  I am  a Kentuckian,  too,  ‘by 
Jupiter,’  and  if  you  propose  to  teach  me  anything,  open 
your  school  right  now,  sir,  and  we  will  see  who  is  master 
in  that  school!” 

The  Kentucky  Colonel  was  not  prepared  for  so  much 
ready  courage  on  the  part  of  the  Eepublican  champion, 
and  abruptly  left  Yates  master  of  the  situation,  to  the 
utter  delight  of  many  of  the  passengers. 

“It  Made  Our  Yery  Hair  Frizzle.” 

This  amusing  incident  in  the  campaign  of  1860  has  never 
been  m print.  The  Democracy  of  Gallatin  county  adver- 
tised a great  meeting  at  New  Market;  the  presence  of 
many  eminent  speakers  had  been  promised,  but  to  the 
surprise  of  all,  none  of  them  appeared,  and  their  places 
had  to  be  filled  by  home  talent,  among  which  was  James 
B.  Turner,  then  a young  lawyer  of  promise,  and  afterward 
a member  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  burden  of  Turner’s 
speech  was  against  Eichard  Yates,  the  Eepublican  candi- 
date for  Governor.  His  purpose  was  to  show  that  Yates 
was  in  favor  of  negro  equality,  and  to  prove  this  he  cited 
the  fact  that  Yates,  when  in  the  Legislature,  had  favored 


110 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  repeal  of  the  “ black  laws.”  “A  motion,”  said  he,  “ had 
been  made  to  lay  that  bill  on  the  table,  and  the  journals 
showed  that  Yates  had  voted  in  the  negative.  Now,  fellow 
citizens,”  said  Mr.  Turner,  “I  will  tell  you  the  effect  of  a 
motion  to  lay  a bill  upon  the  table.  I happen  to  have 
some  little  legislative  experience ; I happened  to  be  a lobby 
member  at  the  time  our  gallant  and  patriotic  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  re-elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
I tell  you  it  made  our  very  hair  frizzle  when  the  result 
was  announced.”  And  here  he  left  the  subject,  leaving 
his  hearers  to  believe  that  the  effect  of  a motion  to  lay  a 
bill  on  the  table  is  “to  make  the  hair  frizzle.” 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1861. 


Governor — Eichard  Yates. 

Lieutenant-Governor — Francis  A.  Hoffman. 

Secretary  of  State — 0.  M.  Hatch. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Jesse  K.  Dubois. 

Treasurer — William  Butler. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 
Gov.  Bissell  died  at  Springfield  March  15,  1860,  when 
Lieut.-Gov.  Wood  became  Governor  until  the  election  and 
qualification  of  Eichard  Yates,  January  14,  1861. 

Twenty-second  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-Second  General  Assembly  convened  on  Mon- 
day, January  7,  and  consisted  of  the  following  members: 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Ill 


Senate. 


Wm,  B.  Ogden,  Cook. 
Henry  W.  Blodgett,  Lake. 
Zenas  Applington,  Ogle. 

J.  H.  Addams,  Stephenson. 
Bichard  F.  Adams,  Lee. 

A.  W.  Mack,  Kankakee. 
W.  Bushnell,  LaSalle. 

Geo.  C.  Bestor,  Peoria. 

T.  J.  Pickett,  Bock  Island. 
Wm.  Berry,  McDonough. 

J.  P.  Bichmond,  Schuyler. 
Austin  Brooks,  Adams. 

C.  L.  Higbee,  Pike. 


A.  L.  Knapp,  Jersey. 

Wm.  Jayne,  Sangamon. 

B.  J.  Oglesby,  Macon. 
Henry  E.  Dummer,  Cass. 
Thos.  A.  Marshall,  Coles. 
P.  Funkhouser,  Effingham. 
Zadok  Casey,  Jefferson. 

S.  A.  Buckmaster,  Madison. 
W.  H.  Underwood,  St.  Clair. 
Hugh  Gregg,  Williamson. 
Jas.  M.  Bodgers,  Clinton. 

A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Johnson. 


House  of  Bepeesentatives. 


Wm.  A.  Hacker,  Union. 
Wm.  H.  Green,  Massac. 
Jas.  D.  Pulley,  Johnson. 
William  Elder,  Saline. 
Peter  Keifer,  Jackson. 

E.  Faherty,  Bandolph. 
Orson  Kellogg,  Perry. 

Cloyd  Crouch,  Hamilton. 

C.  W.  Webster,  Marion. 
James  M.  Sharp,  White. 
Nathan  Crews,  Wayne. 

H.  C.  Talbott,  Monroe. 
Vital  Jarrot,  St.  Clair. 
Samuel  Stookey,  St.  Clair. 
Joshua  P.  Knapp,  Clinton. 
Cyrus  Edwards,  Madison, 

G.  Crownover,  Madison. 

F.  H.  Stoddard,  Fayette. 
Isaac  H.  Walker,  Clay. 
Aaron  Shaw,  Crawford. 
John  Scholfield,  Clark. 
Thos.  W.  Harris,  Shelby. 

H.  M.  Vandeveer,  Christian. 
J,  T.  Pennington,  Macoupin. 
John  N.  English,  Jersey. 
Benj.  Baldwin,  Greene. 

N.  B.  Stage,  Edgar. 

Smith  Nichols,  Coles. 

S.  M.  Cullom,  Sangamon. 


N.  M.  Broadwell,  Sangamon. 
Isaiah  Turney,  Morgan. 
Albert  G.  Burr,  Scott. 

Wm.  B.  Archer,  Pike. 

Benj.  F.  DeWitt,  Brown. 

J.  W.  Singleton,  Adams. 

W.  C.  Harrington,  Adams. 
Lewis  D.  Erwin,  Schuyler. 
W.  H.  Bolloson,  Hancock. 
S.H.  McCandless,  M’Donough 
John  G.  Graham,  Fulton. 

S.  P.  Cummings,  Fulton. 
Frederick  Bearick,  Menard. 
Bobert  B.  Latham,  Logan. 
Lawrence  Weldon,  DeWitt. 
Samuel  G.  Craig,  Vermilion. 
Harvey  Hogg,  McLean. 

David  Kyes,  Tazewell. 

Wm.  C.  Maley,  Warren. 

E.  G.  Johnson,  Peoria. 
Theodore  F.  Hurd,  Stark. 
Henry  D.  Cook,  Woodford. 

A.  J.  Cropsey,  LaSalle. 

J.  W.  Newport,  Grundy. 

V.  Vermilyea,  Kendall. 
Franklin  Blades,  Iroquois. 
Samuel  Storer,  Will. 

F.  H.  Mather,  DuPage. 
Edward  B.  Allen,  DeKalb. 


112  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Thos.  S.  Terry,  Kane.  A.  A.  Hale,  Winnebago. 

J.  W.  Harris,  Bureau.  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  Boone. 

B.  W.  Smith,  Bock  Island.  L.  S.  Church,  McHenry. 

George  Byan,  Lee.  Elijah  M.  Haines,  Lake. 

Francis  A.  McNeal,  Ogle.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  Cook. 

Benj.  L.  Patch,  Carroll.  Wm.  H.  Brown,  Cook. 

J.  B.  Jones,  Jo  Daviess.  S.  M.  Wilson,  Cook. 

*B.H.  McClellan,  Jo  Daviess.  Homer  Wilmarth,  Cook. 

J.  F.  Ankeny,  Stephenson.  Arthur  A.  Smith,  Knox. 

The  Bepublicans  had  a majority  in  both  houses.  When 
the  Senate  met,  A.  J.  Kuykendall  was  elected  temporary 
Chairman,  and  C.  W.  Waite  Secretary  pro  tempore , when 
the  Senate  proceeded  to  elect  permanent  officers.  Thomas 
A.  Marshall  was  elected  Speaker  over  A.  J.  Kuykendall 
by  a vote  of  12  to  9.  C.  W.  Waite  was  elected  Secretary 
over  E.  S.  Dennis,  by  a vote  of  18  to  10.  On  the  quali- 
fication of  Mr.  Hoffman  as  Lieutenant-Governor,  he  became 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Shelby  M.  Cullom  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
over  James  W.  Singleton,  by  a vote  89  to  29.  Harley 
Wayne  was  elected  Clerk,  over  M.  B.  Harrell,  by  a vote 
of  40  to  32. 

This  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  where 
any  party,  other  than  the  Democratic,  had  had  a majority 
in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature.  In  1855  Mr.  Trum- 
bull was  elected  United  States  Senator,  over  Gen.  Shields, 
by  a fusion  of  the  anti-Kansas-Nebraska  Democrats  with 
the  Whigs,  but  the  Whigs  had  not  the  ascendency  in 
either  house,  and  the  Democrats  dominated  the  legislation 
of  the  session. 

Of  the  prominent  members,  and  those  to  attain  promi- 
nence of  the  two  houses,  there  were  among  the  new  mem- 
bers: Ogden,  Bushnell,  Jayne,  Oglesby,  Casey,  Underwood, 
Kuykendall,  EdwTards,  Shaw,  Scholfield,  Cullom,  Burr, 
Archer,  Singleton,  Weldon,  Blades,  Jones,  McClellan, 
Haines,  Scammon. 


♦Vice  J.  Russell  Jones,  resigned. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


113 


Joint  resolutions  of  respect  were  adopted  on  the  death 
of  Gov.  Bissell. 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Bissell  was  marked  with 
moderation  and  wisdom,  and  he  gave  his  undivided  atten- 
tion to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  trust.  He  was 
born  in  New  York,  April  25,  1811;  he  was  self-educated; 
he  studied  medicine,  and  graduated  in  1834  at  the  Medical 
College  in  Philadelphia ; he  removed  to  Illinois,  and  after 
practicing  his  profession  until  1840,  was  elected  a Repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature;  he  studied  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  in  1844  was  elected  Prosecuting 
Attorney ; he  served  with  distinction  in  the  Mexican  war ; 
he  was  a Representative  in  Congress  from  1849  to  1855. 

On  January  9th,  the  message  of  Gov.  Wood  was  read  in 
the  two  houses.  It  showed  that  there  had  been  paid  of 
the  State  debt,  from  January,  1857,  to  January,  1861, 
$2,860,402.49,  and  that  there  were  in  existence  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  banks,  with  a circulation  of  $12,320,964. 
He  recommended  legislation  which  would  better  secure  the 
bill-holder ; advocated  the  calling  of  a convention  to  frame 
a new  constitution  ; suggested  the  reorganization  of  the 
militia,  and  additional  legislation  in  the  interests  of  the 
public  schools. 

Of  the  conflict  of  sentiment  between  the  North  and  the 
South,  which  was  fast  ripening  into  real  war,  he  said : 

“The  people  of  Illinois  deem  the  constitution  which 
clasps  these  States  as  no  temporary  bond — to  be  worn  and 
loosed  at  will — but  as  an  eternal  covenant,  framed  by 
wise  and  patriotic  men,  fraught  with  all  our  past  glory  ; 
all  our  present  happiness;  all  our  future  hope;  and  be- 
queathed as  a sacred  trust,  demanding  our  unceasing 
efforts  for  its  protection  and  perpetuation.  We  can  im- 
agine, in  the  severance  of  this  government,  no  advantage 
to  us,  to  our  countrymen,  to  humanity,  that  would  in  the 
least  degree  compensate  for  the  flood  of  evils  that  must 
pour  in  upon  us  in  such  an  event.  If  grievances  to  any 
portion  of  our  confederation  have  arisen  within  the  Union, 
—8 


114 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


within  the  Union  let  them  be  redressed.  If  unconstitu- 
tional laws,  trenching  upon  the  guaranteed  rights  of  any 
of  our  sister  States,  have  found  a place  upon  our  statute 
books,  let  them  be  removed.  If  prejudice  and  alienation 
towards  any  of  our  fellow-countrymen  has  fastened  upon 
our  minds,  let  it  be  dismissed  and  forgotten.  Let  us  be 
just  to  ourselves  and  to  each  other— allowing  neither 
threats  to  drive  us  from  what  we  deem  to  be  our  duty, 
nor  pride  of  opinion  prevent  us  correcting  wherein  we  may 
have  been  wrong.  Demands  are  being  made,  from  quar- 
ters entitled  to  respect,  that  laws  tending  to  obstruct 
the  operation  of  Federal  authority,  conflicting  with  the 
constitutional  rights,  and  jarring  upon  the  feelings  of 
other  States,  should  be  repealed.  If  Illinois,  either  by 
inadvertence  or  design,  has  passed  any  such  act,  justice 

requires  that  it  should  be  at  once  corrected 

Speaking  not  merely  for  myself,  soon  to  pass  into  a pri- 
vate station,  but  reflecting  what  I assume  to  be  the  voice 
of  the  whole  people  of  Illinois,  irrespective  of  party,  adopt 
the  sentiment  of  President  Jackson:  ‘The  Federal  Union : 
it  must  be  preserved.’  ” 

Richard  Yates,  the  incoming  Governor,  was  inaugurated 
on  the  14th  of  January,  in  the  presence  of  the  two  houses, 
and  read  in  person  his  inaugural  address.  After  giving 
attention  to  the  passage  of  measures  relating  to  the  vital 
interests  of  the  State,  he  addressed  himself  in  this  bold 
and  patriotic  manner  to  national  questions : 

“ Whatever  may  have  been  the  divisions  of  parties  hith- 
erto, the  people  of  Illinois  will  with  one  accord  give  their 
assent  and  firm  support  to  two  propositions : 

“ First — That  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  must  be  insisted  upon,  and  enforced,  as  necessary  to 
the  existence  of  the  government. 

“ Second — That  the  election  of  a Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
Nation,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  Constitution,  is  no 
sufficient  cause  for  the  release  of  any  State  from  any  of 
its  obligations  to  the  Union. 

“ This  Union  cannot  be  dissolved  by  one  State,  nor  by 
the  people  of  one  State,  or  of  a dozen  States.  This  gov- 
ernment was  designed  to  be  perpetual,  and  can  be  dissolved 
only  by  revolution. 

“ Can  it  be  for  a moment  supposed  that  the  people  of 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  will  ever  consent  that  the 
great  river  shall  flow  for  hundreds  of  miles  through  a 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  115 

foreign  jurisdiction,  and  they  be  compelled,  if  not  to  tight 
their  way  in  the  faces  of  forts  frowning  upon  its  banks, 
to  submit  to  the  imposition  and  annoyance  of  arbitrary 
taxes  and  exorbitant  duties  to  be  levied  upon  their  com- 
merce ? I believe  that  before  that  shall  come,  either  shore 
of  the  Father  of  Waters  will  be  a continuous  sepulchre 
of  the  slain,  and  with  all  its  cities  in  ruins,  and  the  cul- 
tivated fields  upon  its  sloping  sides  laid  waste,  it  shall 
roll  its  foaming  tide  in  solitary  grandeur,  as  at  the  dawn 
of  creation.  I know  I speak  for  Illinois,  and  I believe  for 
the  Northwest,  when  I declare  them  a unit  in  the  unal- 
terable determination  of  her  millions,  occupying  the  great 
basin  drained  by  the  Mississippi,  to  permit  no  portion  of 
that  stream  to  be  controlled  by  a foreign  jurisdiction. 

“As  to  compromise,  if  it  means  that  we  must  outrage 
the  sentiment  of  the  civilized  world  by  conceding  that 
slavery  is  a blessing — that  we  must  love  and  praise  it; 
that  we  may  not  hope  for  its  ultimate  extinction;  that  it 
may  go  into  the  free  Territories,  under  the  protection  of 
the  Constitution — if  these  are  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
difficulties  are  to  be  settled,  then  they  never  will  be  set- 
tled. Plainness  and  truth  require  us  to  say,  that  the  only 
pacification  to  which  the  people  of  this  State  could  accede, 
would  be  upon  the  principles  upon  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elected;  that  the  Constitution  must  be  obeyed,  as  it 
is;  all  its  provisions  enforced,  according  to  a fair  and 
honest  interpretation  of  its  meaning;  and  that  slavery  is 
a local  and  State  institution,  and  nothing  else.  . . . 

“South  Carolina,  however,  claims  the  right  to  the  forts 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  collect  revenue  from  imports. 
Now,  to  open  the  ports  of  Charleston  to  free  trade  is  to 
open  the  whole  country  to  free  trade.  Merchandise,  once 
in  the  Union,  can  be  transported  to  any  part  of  the  Repub- 
lic. If  South  Carolina  can  open  one  port,  she  can  all; 
and  she  is  not  only  sovereign  at  home,  but  throughout 
the  Nation — a position  not  soon  to  be  conceded  to  a State 
which  has  not  so  many  white  inhabitants  as  one  of  the 
Congressional  districts  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Now,  if 
South  Carolina  disunionists  shall  be  guilty  of  the  stupen- 
dous madness  of  resisting  the  United  States  officers  in  the 
collection  of  the  revenue,  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the 
Government  will  have  to  use  as  much  force  as  is  neces- 
sary to  enforce  these  laws?  If  Gen.  Washington,  at  the 
head  of  the  United  States  Army  in  1796,  put  down  the 
Pennsylvania  whisky  rebellion;  if  Gen.  Jackson,  in  1832, 
quelled  resistance  to  law  by  his  proclamation  of  force ; if 


116 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Mr.  Fillmore  executed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet  in  the  streets  of  Boston;  if  Mr.  Buchanan, 
in  1859,  called  out  the  United  States  Army  to  put  down 
the  seizure  of  the  arsenal  at  Harper’s  Ferry,  what  shall 
be  done  with  those  who  defiantly  obstruct  the  execution 
of  the  laws  at  Charleston  ? If  the  laws  are  not  executed, 
then  the  Government  is  a failure. 

“I  know  not  what  the  exigencies  of  the  future  may  be, 
nor  what  remedies  it  may  be  necessary  to  use,  but  the 
administration  of  the  incoming  President,  I have  no  doubt, 
will  be  characterized  by  wisdom  as  well  as  firmness.  He 
certainly  will  not  forget  that  the  people  of  all  the  United 
States,  whether  loyal  or  not,  are  citizens  of  the  same 
Bepublic,  component  parts  of  the  same  integral  Union. 
He  never  will  forget,  so  long  as  he  remembers  his  official 
oath,  that  the  whole  material  of  the  Government — moral, 
political  and  physical,  if  need  be — must  be  employed  to 
preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  In  such  an  event  as  this,  I hesitate  not  to  say 
that  the  General  Assembly,  without  a dissenting  voice, 
and  the  people  of  Illinois,  would  unanimously  pledge  the 
men  and  means  of  the  State  to  uphold  the  Constitution 
and  preserve  the  Union.  To  those  who  would  distrust  the 
loyalty  of  the  American  people  to  the  Union,  let  the  spon- 
taneous response  of  the  National  heart,  borne  upon  ten 
thousand  streams  of  lightning  to  the  heroic  Anderson, 
answer.” 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  January  10,  and 
re-elected  Lyman  Trumbull  United  States  Senator,  over 
Samuel  S.  Marshall,  by  a vote  of  54  to  46. 

Among  the  more  important  measures  enacted  by  this 
Legislature,  were  acts  to  protect  married  women  in  their 
separate  property  against  the  debts  of  their  husbands ; to 
encourage  mining;  to  foster  public  schools;  to  authorize 
and  facilitate  the  payment  of  certain  scrip,  coupons,  cer- 
tificates and  other  evidences  of  State  indebtedness;  to 
provide  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  State  debt ; to 
prevent  illegal  voting ; to  provide  for  calling  a convention 
to  amend  the  Constitution.  A joint  resolution  was  passed 
relating  to  the  appointment  of  peace  commissioners  at 
Washington;  resolutions  of  respect  on  the  death  of  Gov. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


117 


Bissell,  and  resolutions  relating  to  Federal  Relations,  in 
which  it  was  declared  that,  although  the  people  of  Illinois 
did  not  desire  any  change  in  the  Federal  Constitution, 
yet,  as  several  of  the  sister  States  had  deemed  it  neces- 
sary that  some  amendments  should  be  made  thereto,  that 
if  the  application  should  be  made  to  Congress  by  any  of 
the  States  deeming  themselves  aggrieved,  to  call  a con- 
vention in  accordance  with  the  constitutional  provision  to 
propose  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  that  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  would  concur  in 
making  such  application,  but  it  was  further  declared, 
“that  until  the  people  of  these  United  States  shall  other- 
wise direct,  the  present  Federal  Union  must  be  preserved 
as  it  is,  and  the  present  Constitution  and  laws  must  be 
administered  as  they  are ; and,  to  this  end,  in  conformity 
with  that  Constitution  and  the  laws,  the  whole  resources 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  are  hereby  pledged  to  the  Federal 
authorities.” 

Special  Session. 

The  members  of  this  General  Assembly  had  hardly 
returned  to  their  homes  and  become  settled  in  their  ordi- 
nary vocations  of  life,  before  they  were  convened  in 
extraordinary  session,  to  pass  measures  to  aid  the  Nation 
in  preserving  its  life.  On  the  14th  of  April,  the  rebels 
fired  upon  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  harbor,  and  com- 
pelled its  surrender,  whereupon  President  Lincoln  issued 
his  proclamation  calling  for  75,000  soldiers  to  put  down 
the  insurrection,  and  repossess  and  preserve  the  property 
of  the  government.  Gov.  Yates  convened  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  23d  of  April,  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
such  laws  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  to  place  the 
State  in  a condition  to  render  effective  assistance  to  the 
General  Government  in  preserving  the  Union,  enforcing 
the  laws,  and  protecting  the  property  and  rights  of  the 
people.  His  message  to  the  assembly  was  full  of  stirring 


118 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


patriotism,  and  filled  every  loyal  heart  with  gladness. 
The  sword,  said  he,  was  drawn  not  in  a spirit  of  revenge, 
but  clearly  and  unmistakably  in  self-defense  and  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union.  Referring  to  the  public  senti- 
ment of  the  people  of  the  North  prior  to  the  assault  upon 
Fort  Sumter,  and  the  consequences  to  follow,  he  said: 

“ Public  sentiment  was  everywhere,  in  the  free  States, 
for  peace  and  compromise.  No  better  proof  could  be  re- 
quired, than  the  facts  I have  stated,  that  the  conspiracy, 
which  has  now  assumed  such  formidable  dimensions,  and 
which  is  threatening  the  destruction  of  the  fairest  fabric  of 
human  wisdom  and  human  liberty,  is  of  long  standing,  and  is 
wholly  independent  of  the  election  of  a particular  person 
to  the  Presidential  office,  than  the  manner  in  which  the 
seceded  States  have  acted  toward  their  loyal  brethren  of 
the  South  and  North  since  they  have  entered  upon  their 
criminal  enterprise.  We  must  do  them,  however,  the  jus- 
tice to  say,  that  all  their  public  documents  and  all  the 
speeches  of  their  controlling  leaders  candidly  admit  that 
the  Presidential  election  has  not  been  the  cause  for  their 
action,  and  that  they  were  impelled  by  far  different 
motives. 

“ So  forbearing  and  pacific  has  been  the  policy  of  the 
Federal  Government — anxiously  hoping  for  a return  to 
reason  in  the  minds  of  our  Southern  brethren — that  they 
were  suffered  to  erect  their  batteries  in  the  jaws  of  our 
guns  at  Sumter,  finally  losing  to  us  that  strong  fortress, 
by  the  most  unexampled  forbearance  and  reluctance  to 
the  shedding  the  blood  of  our  countrymen ; and  a simple  at- 
tempt, on  the  part  of  our  constitutional  Government,  to 
provision  a starving  garrison,  in  one  of  our  ports,  of  which 
the  revolutionary  authorities  had  received  official  notice 
from  the  Government,  has  been  made  the  occasion  for  a 
destructive  bombardment  of  that  fort.  Overpowered  by 
numbers,  our  gallant  men  had  to  lower  our  glorious  flag, 
and  surrender  on  terms  dictated  by  rebels. 

“ The  spirit  of  a free  and  brave  people  is  aroused  at 
last.  Upon  the  first  call  'of  the  constitutional  Government 
they  are  rushing  to  arms.  Fully  justified  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world  and  in  the  light  of  history,  they  have  resolved  to 
save  the  Government  of  our  fathers,  to  preserve  the  Union 
so  dear  to  a thousand  memories  and  promising  so  much 
of  happiness  to  them  and  their  children,  and  to  bear  aloft 
the  flag  which  for  eighty-five  years  had  gladdened  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


119 


hearts  of  the  struggling  free  on  every  continent,  island 
and  sea  under  the  whole  heavens.  Our  own  noble  State, 
as  of  yore,  has  responded  in  a voice  of  thunder.  The 
entire  mass  is  alive  to  the  crisis.  If,  in  Mexico,  our 
Hardin,  and  Shields,  and  Bissell,  and  Baker,  and  their 
gallant  comrades,  were  found  closest  to  their  colors,  and 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  shed  imperishable  lustre 
upon  the  fame  and  glory  of  Illinois,  now  that  the  struggle 
is  for  our  very  nationality,  and  for  the  stars  and  stripes, 
her  every  son  will  be  a soldier  and  bare  his  breast  to  the 
storm  of  battle. 

“ The  attack  upon  Fort  Sumter  produced  a most  start- 
ling transformation  on  the  Northern  mind — awakened  a 
sleeping  giant,  and  served  to  show,  as  no  other  event  in 
all  the  history  of  the  past  ever  did,  the  deep-seated  fer- 
vor and  affection  with  which  our  whole  people  regard  our 
glorious  Union.  Party  distinctions  vanished,  as  a mist, 
in  a single  night,  as  if  by  magic ; and  parties  and  party 
platforms  were  swept  as  a morning  dream  from  the  minds 
of  men,  and  now  men  of  all  parties,  by  thousands,  are 
begging  for  places  in  the  ranks.  The  blood  of  twenty  mil- 
lions of  freemen  boils,  with  cauldron  heat  to  replace  our 
national  flag  upon  the  very  walls  whence  it  was  insulted, 
and  by  traitor  hands  pulled  down.  Every  village  and 
hamlet  resounds  with  beat  of  drum  and  clangor  of  arms. 
Three  hundred  thousand  men  wait  the  click  of  the  wires 
for  marching  orders,  and  all  the  giant  energies  of  the 
Northwest  are  at  the  command  of  the  Government.  Those 
who  have  supposed  that  the  people  of  the  free  States  will 
not  fight  for  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  that  they 
will  suffer  another  government  to  be  carved  out  of  the 
boundaries  of  this  Union,  have  hugged  a fatal  delusion 
to  their  bosoms,  for  our  people  will  wade  through  seas  of 
blood  before  they  will  see  a single  star  or  a solitary  stripe 
erased  from  the  glorious  flag  of  our  Union. 

“ The  services  already  tendered  me,  in  my  efforts  to 
organize  troops,  provide  means,  arms  and  provisions,  by 
distinguished  members  of  the  party  hitherto  opposed  to 
me  in  political  sentiments,  are  beyond  all  praise,  and  are, 
by  me,  in  behalf  of  the  State,  most  cheerfully  acknowledged. 
There  are  now  more  companies  received  than  are  needed 
under  the  Presidential  call,  and  almost  unlimited  numbers 
have  formed  and  are  forming,  awaiting  further  orders. 
A single  inland  county  (LaSalle)  tenders  nine  full  com- 
panies, and  our  principal  city  (Chicago)  has  responded 
with  contributions  of  men  and  money  worthy  of  her  fame 


120 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


for  public  spirit  and  patriotic  devotion.  Nearly  a million 
of  money  has  been  offered  to  the  State,  as  a loan,  by  our 
patriotic  capitalists  and  other  private  citizens,  to  pay  tho 
expenses  connected  with  the  raising  of  our  State  troops, 
and  temporarily  providing  for  them. 

“ Civil  war,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
calamities  which  can  befall  a people.  And  such  a war  I 
It  is  said  ‘when  Greek  meets  Greek  then  comes  the  tug 
of  war/  When  American  shall  meet  American — when 
the  fiery,  impetuous  valor  of  the  South  shall  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  cool,  determined  bravery  of  the  North,  then 
blood  will  flow  to  the  horses’  bridles.  Would  that  the 
calamity  might  be  averted ! But  the  destruction  of  our 
government  is  a far  greater  evil.  A government  which 
is  the  hope  of  the  world — promising  more  of  happiness  to 
us  and  our  children  and  the  millions  who  are  to  come 
after  us,  and  to  the  struggling  free  in  every  land,  than 
any  government  ever  invented  by  man,  must  not , shall  not 
be  destroyed . 

“A  government  that  submits  to  peaceable  secession  signs 
its  own  death  warrant.  What  would  be  left  of  our 
Union?  No  matter  how  many  States  it  might  for  the 
present  still  comprise — this  would  give  us  not  a moment’s 
guarantee  against  further  dissolution,  if  the  right  to  secede 
once  were  peaceably  tolerated.  Government  is  established 
for  the  protection  of  rights  and  property,  and  when  built 
upon  the  principle  of  voluntary  dissolution,  it  ceases  to 
furnish  that  protection ; it  ceases  to  be  a government  under 
which  national  men  can  live. 

“ We  draw  the  sword  then,  not  in  a spirit  of  in- 
dignation or  revenge,  but  clearly  and  unmistakably  in  self- 
defense,  and  in  the  protection  of  our  rights,  our  liberty 
and  security,  for  property — in  a word,  for  the  nearest  and 
dearest  interests  of  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  I have 
thus  spoken,  because  an  impression  may  still  prevail  in  the 
minds  of  some,  that  this  conflict  was  one  of  our  own  seek- 
ing, and  one  which  might  have  been  avoided  without  any 
imminent  danger  to  the  yet  loyal  parts  of  the  country. 
This  is  not  so.  Secession  has  brought  about  its  inevitable 
results , and  we  must  crush  it  and  treason , wherever  they 
raise  their  unsightly  heads , or  perish  ourselves. 

“And  now,  as  we  love  our  common  country,  in  all  its 
parts,  with  all  its  blessings  of  climate  and  culture;  its 
mountains,  valleys  and  streams ; as  we  cherish  its  history 
and  the  memory  of  the  world’s  only  Washington ; as  we 
love  our  free  civilization,  striking  its  roots  deep  down  into 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


121 


those  principles  of  truth  and  justice  eternal  as  God;  as  we 
love  our  government  so  free,  our  institutions  so  noble,  our 
boundaries  so  broad;  as  we  love  our  grand  old  flag,  'sign 
of  the  free  heart’s  only  home,’  that  is  cheered  and  hailed 
in  every  sea  and  haven  of  the  world,  let  us  resolve  that 
we  will  preserve  that  Union  and  those  institutions,  and 
that  there  shall  be  no  peace  till  the  traitorous  and  bloody 
palmetto  shall  be  hurled  from  the  battlements  of  Sumter, 
and  the  star-spangled  banner  in  its  stead  wave  defiantly 
in  the  face  of  traitors,  with  every  star  and  every  stripe 
flaming  from  all  its  ample  folds. 

"Gentlemen,  I commend  the  destiny  of  our  noble  and 
gallant  State,  in  this  its  hour  of  peril,  to  your  wise  and 
patriotic  deliberations,  and  prudent  and  determinate  action. 
May  the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  guided  our  Washington 
throughout  the  trying  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  and  gave 
to  our  fathers  strength  to  build  up  our  sacred  Union,  and 
to  frame  a government  which  has  been  the  center  of  our 
affections  and  the  admiration  of  the  world,  be  still  with 
us,  and  preserve  our  country  from  destruction. 

"In  the  firm  belief  that  we  are  in  the  hands  of  a Su- 
preme ruling  power,  whose  will  is  wisdom,  let  us  manfully 
maintain  our  rights,  and  our  Constitution  and  Union,  to 
the  last  extremity.  Let  us  so  act  that  our  children  and 
children’s  children,  when  we  are  laid  in  the  dust,  will 
hold  us  in  grateful  remembrance,  and  will  bless  our  mem- 
ories, as  we  do  now  bless  the  heroes  and  patriots  who 
achieved  our  independence,  and  transmitted  to  us  the 
priceless  heritage  of  American  liberty.” 

On  the  25th  of  April,  Senator  Douglas,  in  response  to 
a joint  resolution,  addressed  the  assembly  in  the  hall  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  issues  of  the  hour.. 
The  hall  was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  the  speech  was  the 
bravest  and  best  of  all  the  great  efforts  of  that  gifted  and 
patriotic  statesman,  from  which  a liberal  extract  will  be 
found  in  a subsequent  chapter. 

The  two  houses  proceeded  without  circumlocution  to  trans- 
act the  business  for  which  they  had  been  called  together,, 
and  adjourned  on  the  Bd  of  May,  being  in  session  only 
ten  days ; and  returning  home,  many  of  the  members  vol- 
unteered in  defense  of  their  country’s  flag. 


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CHAPTER  X, 

SECESSION-PROSECUTION  OF  THE  WAR, 


Extracts  from  Speeches  of  Senator  Trumbull  and  Representative  MeCler- 
nand,  Delivered  in  the  Senate  and  House,  January,  1861— Extracts  from 
War  Speeches  made  by  Owen  Lovejoy,  J.  F.  Farnsworth  and  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,*  at  Chicago,  August  8, 1862. 


Speech  of  Lyman  Trumbull. 

“Mr.  President — It  has  been  very  hard  for  me,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  my  Republican  associates  around  me,  to  bear 
the  many  misapprehensions,  not  to  say  misstatements,  of 
our  position,  and  to  see  a perverted  state  of  facts  day 
after  day  urged  upon  the  Senate  and  the  country  by  gen- 
tlemen upon  the  other  side.  We  have  listened  to  the 
Senator  from  Mississippi ; and  one  would  suppose,  in  listen- 
ing to  him  here,  that  he  was  a friend  of  this  Union,  that 
he  desired  the  perpetuity  of  this  Government.  He  has  a 
most  singular  way  of  preserving  it,  and  a most  singular 
way  of  maintaining  the  Constitution.  What  is  it  ? Why, 
he  proposes  that  the  Government  should  abdicate.  If  it 
will  simply  withdraw  its  forces  from  Charleston,  and  abdi- 
cate in  favor  either  of  a mob  or  of  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  Charleston,  we  will  have  peace ! He  dreads  civil 
war,  and  he  will  avoid  it  by  a surrender ! He  talks  as  if 
we  Republicans  were  responsible  for  civil  war  if  it  ensues. 
If  civil  war  comes,  it  comes  from  those  with  whom  he  is 
acting.  Who  proposes  to  make  civil  war  but  South  Caro- 
lina? Who  proposes  to  make  civil  war  but  Mississippi, 
and  Alabama,  and  Georgia,  seizing,  by  force  of  arms, 
upon  the  public  property  of  the  United  States?  Talk  to 
us  of  making  civil  war ! You  inaugurate  it,  and  then  talk 
of  it  as  if  it  came  from  the  friends  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union.  Here  stands  this  great  Government;  here 
stands  the  Union — a pillar,  so  to  speak,  already  erected. 

* Mr.  Arnold  died  at  Chicago,  his  home,  od  Thursday,  April  24,  1884 — 
while  this  book  was  passing  through  the  press. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


128 


Do  we  propose  to  pull  it  down?  Do  we  propose  under- 
mining the  foundations  of  the  Constitution  or  disturbing 
the  Union?  Not  at  all;  but  the  proposition  comes  from 
the  other  side.  They  are  making  war,  and  modestly  ask 
us  to  have  peace  by  submitting  to  what  they  ask. 

“It  is  nothing  but  rebellion;  it  is  nothing  but  insurrec- 
tion. But  not  only  in  South  Carolina,  where  there  was 
the  pretense  of  secession  to  justify  the  act,  which,  I think, 
really  amounts  to  nothing,  but  in  Georgia  and  Alabama, 
which  have  not  seceded,  we  are  told  that  the  public 
property  of  the  United  States  has  been  seized;  and  the 
Senator  from  Mississippi  thinks  the  best  way  to  avoid 
civil  war  is  for  the  United  States  to  withdraw  their  forces, 
to  surrender  their  forts,  and  strike  the  flag  under  which 
he  was  nurtured,  and  beneath  which  he  has  marched  so 
often.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  have  been  taken  down  from 
the  United  States  buildings  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  and 
trampled  in  the  dust,  and  a palmetto  flag  with  a snake, 
reared  in  their  place ; but  if  we  would  avoid  civil  war,  we 
are  told,  we  must  submit  to  this ! Why,  sir,  any  people 
can  have  peace  at  the  price  of  degradation.  No  despot 
makes  war  upon  subjects  who  submit  their  necks  to  the 
tread  of  his  heel.  But  if  we  would  maintain  constitu- 
tional liberty ; if  we  would  maintain  constitutional  freedom ; 
if  we  would  maintain  this  great  Government,  we  must  not 
suffer  every  faction,  and  every  mob,  and  every  State,  that 
thinks  proper,  to  trample  its  flag  under  foot 

“ Sir,  it  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  this  doctrine  of  seces- 
sion is  utterly  destructive  of  a constitutional  government. 
On  the  same  principle,  a county  may  secede  from  a State, 
and  a town  from  a county.  The  Senator  from  Kentucky 
(Mr.  Crittenden)  has  been  talking  about  compromises,  and 
has  introduced  a string  of  resolutions  here.  When  they 
are  adopted,  what  is  your  Government  good  for?  What 
is  to  prevent  the  State  of  Illinois  next  week,  or  the  State 
of  Kentucky  the  following  week,  from  seceding,  as  South 
Carolina  has  done,  and  demanding  new  guarantees  as  a 
condition  of  the  existence  of  the  Union?  By  submitting 
to  this  doctrine,  you  destroy  the  stability  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Constitutional  governments  are  worth  nothing  if 
this  doctrine  is  to  obtain;  and  hence  it  is  that  those  of 
us  who  are  for  sustaining  the  Constitution  and  sustaining 
the  Union,  believe  that  the  question  involved  is  the  existence 
of  constitutional  government.  We  now  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  extension  of  African  slavery — that  is  not  the 


124 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


question  before  the  American  people ; but  the  question  is,. 
‘Has  this  Government  any  power  to  protect  itself?’  In 
other  words,  have  we  a Government  at  all?  That  is 
what  is  to  be  tested.  The  people  of  Illinois  believe  we 
have  a Government,  and  a Government  that  has  power 
to  maintain  itself,  not  by  making  civil  war,  but  by  enforc- 
ing the  laws,  and  defending  itself  against  those  wTho  would 
make  war  upon  it. 


“But,  sir,  what  is  the  cause  of  this  complaint?  Why 
is  it  that  the  Southern  States  are  inaugurating  civil  war  ? 
I have  as  much  horror  for  it  as  the  Senator  from  Missis- 
sippi. I would  do  anything  honorable  to  avoid  it.  I 
certainly  will  not  be  the  instrument  to  inaugurate  it.  But 
what  is  it  the  Senator  from  Mississippi  (Mr.  Davis)  com- 
plains of?  To  use  his  language,  he  says,  if  you  are  to 
make  us  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  you  in 
the  North,  we  will  not  submit.  If  they  are  to  be  reduced 
to  subjection  to  the  North,  they  will  not  submit.  I do 
not  ask  them  to  do  so.  So  far  as  I am  concerned,  I will 
ask  them  to  submit  to  nothing  that  I will  not  submit  to 
myself.  I ask  to  impose  no  inequality  upon  the  State  of 
Mississippi. 


“Now,  sir,  my  idea  of  preserving  the  peace  of  this 
country,  and  of  the  duty  which  is  devolved  upon  us  here, 
is  not  what  we  should  yield,  as  the  Senator  from  Missis- 
sippi suggests,  to  the  threats  and  demands  of  States  which 
say  that  they  want  no  compromise,  and  want  no  conces- 
sions, and  are  determined  to  set  up  for  themselves,  and 
expel  the  Federal  Government  from  their  borders ; but 
that  we  should  rally  around  the  Constitution,  and  enforce 
the  laws  under  it;  and  then,  not  when  States  come  hero 
threatening  civil  war,  not  when  our  vessels  are  fired  into, 
not  when  our  forts  are  taken  possession  of,  but  when  the 
States  all  acknowledge  themselves  within  the  Union,  and 
under  the  Constitution,  if  there  are  any  grievances,  let 
them  be  removed.  Then,  if  there  is  anything  wrong  in  the 
Constitution,  let  us  amend  it  according  to  the  mode  pro- 
vided in  the  instrument.  I do  not  believe  that  we  shall 
better  the  Constitution  by  any  amendment  which  may  be 

made  to  it 

“But,  sir,  I did  not  intend  making  any  lengthened  re- 
marks, but  only  to  reply  in  a few  words  to  what  I thought 
to  be  the  false  assumptions  of  Senators  on  the  other  side 
as  to  this  whole  controversy.  I shall  not  take  up  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


125 


lime  of  the  Senate  by  going  into  any  lengthened  argu- 
ment, but  will  state  in  * a few  words  what  I suppose  to  be 
our  duty  here ; and  that  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  endeavor 
to  maintain  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  as  we  have 
them.  When  the  attack  is  made  by  the  seceding  States, 
or  by  mobs  in  the  Southern  States,  upon  the  constituted 
authorities,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  our  duty  in  such 
a case.  I was  saying,  when  interrupted,  that  the  North 
was  not  disposed  to  make  any  encroachments  upon  the 
South.  I was  saying  that  even  this  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
would  most  likely  be  better  executed  under  Mr.  Lincoln’s 
Administration  than  under  Mr.  Buchanan’s,  and  was  giving 
some  reasons  for  this  opinion.  We  know  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, in  his  public  speeches,  has  said  that  so  long  as  this 
statute  stands,  objectionable  as  it  may  be,  he  would  con- 
sider it  his  duty  to  have  it  executed.  He  has  said,  further, 
that  in  his  opinion  the  slave  owners  were  entitled,  under 
the  Constitution,  to  a reasonable  law  to  reclaim  their  run- 
away slaves;  and  he  has  said  that  he  would  not  object 
to  any  law  for  that  purpose  which  was  not  more  likely  to 
enslave  a free  man,  than  your  common  criminal  laws  are 

to  punish  an  innocent  one 

“I  do  not  desire  to  engage  the  Senator  from  Kentucky 
in  a discussion  at  this  time,  but  simply  to  call  his  atten- 
tion to  the  compromise  of  1850,  and  see  if  we  do  not 
stand  in  a better  position,  just  as  we  are,  than  by  attempt- 
ing to  patch  up  some  new  compromise.  For  my  life,  I 
cannot  see  the  occasion  for  all  this  agitation  in  the  coun- 
try, and  for  States  threatening  to  go  out  of  the  Union, 
unless  it  be  simply  the  fact  that  the  Republican  party 
has,  in  the  constitutional  mode,  elected  its  candidate  for 
the  Presidency.  That  is  all  I can  see.  Inasmuch  as  we 
have  not  been  in  power,  we  certainly  have  done  nothing ; 
and  although  Senators  who  say  they  love  the  Union  will 
pick  out  an  isolated  passage  from  Mr.  Lincoln’s  speeches, 
or  from  the  speeches  of  some  extreme  man,  and  reiterate 
it  over  and  over  again,  as  if  further  to  inflame  the  public 
mind ; still,  when  you  come  back  and  look  at  the  public 
course  of  the  President  elect,  at  his  avowed  opinions,  at 
the  platform  upon  which  he  is  elected,  you  will  find  noth- 
ing that  interferes  in  the  least  with  the  rights  of  the 
South;  nothing  that  denies  the  equality  of  the  States; 
nothing  that  denies  the  equality  of  any  individual  from 
any  of  the  States  in  the  common  territories  of  the  United 
States.” 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Speech  of  John  A.  McClernand. 

“Mr.  Chairman — When  an  impending  danger  can  be  no 
longer  stayed  or  averted,  is  it  not  the  part  of  wisdom  and 
duty  to  meet,  and,  if  possible,  overcome  it?  Such,  I think, 
is  a sound  canon  of  statesmanship.  Acting  on  this  belief, 
I propose  rather  briefly,  to  deal  with  the  question  of  seces- 
sion now  actually  upon  us. 

‘ 4 First,  I deny  the  constitutional  right  of  any  State  to 
secede  from  the  Union;  second,  I deprecate  the  exercise 
of  any  such  assumed  right  as  a measure  of  revolution, 
which  in  the  present  case,  must  embroil  the  country  in  a 
sanguinary  and  wasting  civil  war.” 

4 ‘Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I do  not  desire  war. 
I would  avoid  it  by  all  honorable  means,  particularly  a 
civil  war  between  any  of  the  States  of  this  Union.  Such 
a war  would  be  fratricidal,  unnatural,  and  most  bloody. 
It  would  be  a war  between  States  equally  jealous  of  their 
honor,  and  men  equally  brave.  I would  forfeit  my  own 
self-respect  if  I would  disparage  the  courage  of  my  breth- 
ren, either  of  the  North  or  the  South;  for  courage  is  the 
distinction  of  neither,  but  the  virtue  of  both.  The  only 
difference  between  them  is,  that  the  man  of  the  South  fights 
from  impetuosity,  the  man  of  the  North  from  purpose, 
and  the  man  of  the  West  from  a restless  spirit  of  adven- 
ture. Myself,  a Kentuckian  by  birth,  and  an  Illinoisan  by 
nurture  and  education,  I would  deplore  such  a war  as  the 
greatest  calamity  that  could  befall  the  country ; yet,  as  a 
practical  man,  and  a representative  of  the  people,  I must 
not  shut  my  eyes  to  the  logic  of  the  cause  and  effect — 
to  the  popular  instinct  of  self-preservation.” 


“Let  us  all — let  all  conservative  men  of  all  parties  and 
of  all  sections,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the 
Grulf  of  Mexico  to  the  far  lakes — rally  in  favor  of  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  Let  them 
merge  the  partisan  in  the  patriot,  and,  coming  up  to  the 
altar  of  their  country,  generously  sacrifice  every  angry 
feeling  and  ambitious  aim  for  the  welfare  and  glory  of 
that  country.  Let  no  man,  whether  he  be  Democrat,  Kepub- 
lican,  or  American,  refuse  to  yield  something  of  his  opinions 
and  prepossessions  in  deference  to  others,  and  the  higher 
claims  of  patriotism.  All  government,  all  authority,  all 
human  life,  is  a compromise.  Christianity  itself  is  a com- 
promise between  justice  and  mercy — between  disobedience 
and  its  predoomed  punishment.  Let  us,  therefore,  in  a 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


127 


spirit  of  conciliation  and  concession,  compromise  our  exist- 
ing differences  upon  just  and  equitable  terms;  let  us  all 
do  this  for  the  good  of  all.  Our  fathers  set  us  such  an 
example  in  the  formation  of  the  Federal  Constitution ; and 
why  cannot  we  follow  it  as  the  condition  of  preserving 
and  perpetuating  that  sacred  instrument  ? To  do  so  would 
be  no  discredit  or  disparagement  to  any  one,  but  an  honor 
to  all.  The  people,  posterity,  and  future  history,  in  the 
name  of  freedom  and  humanity,  call  for  it. 

“ Personally,  I would  prefer  compromise  upon  the  basis 
of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  slavery  in  the  States, 
in  the  Territories,  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  My 
own  choice  would  be,  to  leave  the  people  of  the  States 
and  Territories,  each  to  decide  for  themselves,  whether  they 
would  or  would  not  have  slavery,  and  what  should  be  the 
character  of  their  other  local  institutions.  This  would  be 
my  choice,  but  if  such  a settlement  is  unacceptable  to  the 
majority,  then  I am  willing  to  forego  my  strong  objections 
to  a geographical  line,  and  adopt  the  plan  of  adjustment 
recommended  by  a committee  of  the  members  from  the 
border  States,  which  is  familiar  to  the  members  of  the 
House,  and  which,  as  the  peace  offering  of  conservative 
men,  would  no  doubt  meet  the  approbation  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,  a plan  which  I understand  my  dis- 
tinguished friend  from  Arkansas  (Mr.  Eust)  is  prepared 
to  bring  before  the  House  on  the  first  opportunity.” 

Speech  of  Owen  Lovejoy. 

“ So  far  as  the  question  of  argument  is  concerned,  if 
has  been  exhausted.  A son  does  not  argue  or  appeal  to 
decide  as  to  the  propriety  of  killing  the  assassin  of  his 
mother;  neither  do  the  sons  of  the  republic  need  long- 
winded  arguments  to  induce  them  to  put  down  this  ac- 
cursed rebellion.  We  want  men,  not  speeches;  men  with 
muskets  in  their  hands,  not  hurrahs  from  their  throats. 
I have  but  little  reputation  as  a conservative  man,  so  far 
as  I have  been  informed.  Some  people  go  so  far  as  to  say 
I am  slightly  tinctured  with  fanaticism  in  my  views  of 
the  slavery  question.  For  myself,  I claim  to  be  a sort  of 
an  anointed  prophet  of  the  Lord.  I have  faith  in  God, 
and  next  to  Him,  in  the  American  people.  Let  us  not 
fall  into  the  error  of  the  man  who,  standing  by  the  side 
of  a bayou  or  arm  of  the  sea,  and  witnessing  the  ebb  of 
the  tide,  exclaimed  that  the  sea  was  becoming  dry  land 
again.  Rather  let  us  say  that  behind  and  beyond  the 


128 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


temporary  reverses  now  afflicting  us,  there  will,  come  up 
the  great  uprising  of  popular  patriotism,  which  in  its  cer- 
tain flood,  shall  cover  with  its  proper  element  and  spirit 
the  ground  lost  in  those  temporary  reverses. 

“It  is  not  for  any  of  us  to  say  that  during  the  trying 
emergency  in  which  we  are  at  present  placed,  he 
could  manage  the  ship  of  State  more  satisfactorily  than 
the  one  who  is  now  at  the  helm.  Let  us  each  seize  a 
rope  and  do  what  we  can  to  prevent  its  destruction.  This 
is  common  sense.  I call  it  goo*d  common  sense  for  a 
‘ fanatic.’  We  must  preserve  the  Nation;  we  must  pre- 
serve it  intact  from  rebels  at  home,  or  foreign  interven- 
tion. We  must  not  allow  French  intervention  in  Mexico. 
Neither  must  we  allow  a descendant  of  that  old  British 
tyrant,  George  the  Third,  to  plant  his  throne  in  Southern 
soil  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Bepublic.  We  must 
therefore  defend  our  soil  if  every  foot  of  the  domain  is 
consecrated  with  the  blood  of  a slain  hero.  We  must 
preserve  our  nationality,  and  for  myself,  I don't  want  to  sur- 
vive the  permanent  dismemberment  of  these  United  States. 
I had  a thousand  times  rather  lay  down  my  life  on  the 
battle  field  than  outlive  such  a dreadful  event.  I don’t 
know  what  God  wills,  but  I have  a shrewd  suspicion  that 
He  wills  what  we  will.  The  maintenance  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  are  a necessity. 
WThat ! consent  to  a dismemberment  ? Suppose  we  allow 
the  confederates  to  secede,  what  do  we  gain?  We  gain 
a confederacy  more  despotic  than  any  monarchy  of  Europe. 
With  Canada  on  the  north,  and  this  hated  Southern  Con- 
federacy on  the  south,  with  all  the  power  and  hate  of 
England  to  back  her,  we  are  ground  to  powder  between 
the  upper  and  nether  mill-stone. 

“How  is  our  nationality  to  be  preserved?  By  every 
man,  woman  and  child  consecrating  themselves  to  the  great 
work  till  the  rebellion  is  suppressed.  This  is  a matter 
that  cannot  be  settled  by  resolutions  or  meetings,  nor 
ballots ; it’s  got  beyond  that ; it’s  bayonets  and  bullets  now. 
War  has  hardly  touched  us  yet  in  the  great  Northwest; 
it  has  not  yet  laid  upon  us  its  bloody  hand,  that  we  feel 
its  withering,  blighting  curse.  We  must  buy  and  sell  and 
conduct  our  business  as  usual,  but  the  one  grand  idea 
must  ever  be  prominent— the  suppression  of  this  rebellion. 
We  must  make  this  war  the  great  business  of  our  lives 
dill  it  is  ended.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


i2d 


Speech  of  John  F.  Farnsworth. 

**They  have  massed  an  immense  army,  and  are  fight- 
ing with  a desperation  we  have  not  evinced.  Until  we  have 
the  same  spirit,  we  shall  not  conquer  them.  When  we 
seize  all  agencies,  as  they  do,  we  shall  conquer,  and  that 
right  speedily.  The  rebels  have  got  their  last  large  army. 
Every  man  has  been  compelled  to  take  arms  and  fight  in 
the  front  of  the  rebels.  When  we  do  this,  rebeldom  will 
be  put  down.  The  people  of  the  North  are  getting  over 
their  tender-footed  conservatism  which  has  sacrificed  too 
many  lives  dear  to  your  firesides.  My  friends,  there  is  at 
this  moment,  in  the  Southern  States,  an  army  of  men 
equal  to  our  entire  army  in  numbers.  They  are  our 
friends.  They  will  work  for  us,  and  fight  for  us,  if  you 
will  but  say  the  word.  You  are  allowing  them  now  to  cul- 
tivate corn  and  wheat  to  feed  your  enemy.  You  are  let- 
ting them  work  in  the  trenches  and  build  fortifications 
against  you.  The  entire  element  is  ready — and  I speak 
from  my  knowledge — is  ready  to  act,  and  work,  and  fight 
for  you.  A rebel  throat  is  none  too  good  to  be  cut  by  a 
black  man.  I find  in  Virginia,  that  the  only  reliable, 
truthful  men  from  whom  we  can  obtain  information  about 
•the  rebel  armies,  their  roads  and  their  scouts,  were  in  the 
poor  hovels  of  the  negro.  Using  all  the  skill  and  expe- 
rience I have  had  as  a lawyer,  I have  questioned  white 
men,  and  when  I had  done,  some  old  negro,  too  old  to 
bear  arms,  would  nod  to  me  to  meet  him  behind  the 
barn,  and  would  tell  me  ‘massa  lied/  and  would  impart 
to  me  information  which  subsequent  experience  proved 
true.  I have  never  known  them  to  tell  an  untruth  to  me. 
I want  to  see  an  expression  go  forth  from  this  meeting, 
lifting  up  the  hands  of  the  President  and  Cabinet  for  using 
every  agency  we  can  lay  our  hands  upon.  The  voice  of 
the  people  is  the  voice  of  God.  It  is  authoritative  with 
statesmen  and  generals.  That  voice,  I trust,  will  be  heard. 
I hope  the  fruits  of  this  meeting  will  be  felt.  I hope  it 
will  not  be  an  exodus  for  the  accumulated  gas  of  speeches. 
Organize  your  companies  and  train  them  at  home  for  any 
emergency  which  may  occur.  I want  to  see  the  wealthy 
merchants,  who  own  these  large  buildings,  the  well-to-do 
lawyers  and  thriving  physicians  come  down  with  the  sinews 
of  war  to  aid  the  men  who  are  fighting  the  battles  of  the 
stay-at-homes.  I see  before  me  at  least  two  regiments  of 
men.  What  are  you  doing  here  ? You’ve  all  got  your  little 
property  at  stake.  Put  your  names  on  the  muster  roll.” 
—9 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Speech  of  Isaac  N.  Arnold. 

“ Starting  from  the  Nation’s  capital,  all  along  through 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
you  see  a vast  uprising  of  the  people,  with  a fixed,  stern 
determination,  at  any  cost,  to  crush  out  this  vast  rebellion. 
But  it  is  in  the  Northwest,  and  in  this  great  city  of  the 
Northwest,  that  the  zeal  and  energy  of  patriotism  is  most 
active  and  all-pervading. 

“ Illinois  is  meriting  for  herself  and  her  children  a glo- 
rious record.  She  had  won  distinguished  honors  in  the 
Mexican  war.  Bissell  and  Hardin  had  associated  their 
names  and  the  name  of  Illinois  with  Palo  Alto  and  Buena 
Yista;  but  in  this  far  more  glorious  war,  in  which  the 
faithful  fights  for  his  country  against  rebels  and  traitors, 
far  more  cruel  and  barbarous  than  Mexican  guerillas, 
Illinois  covered  herself  with  glory.  The  bones  of  her  sons 
lie  scattered  on  every  battle-field  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. With  more  than  60,000  of  her  gallant  sons  in 
the  field,  the  President,  whom  Illinois  has  given  to  the 
Nation,  calls  for  more  troops. 

“ Illinois  springs  to  the  rescue.  Her  commercial  capital 
speaks  to-day  in  a voice  which  will  thrill  the  Nation.  The 
Northwest  is  ready.  As  a citizen  of  this  city,  I claim  to- 
day to  express  my  thanks  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  You 
have  done  nobly,  and  your  efforts  will  tell  in  all  the 
Northwest,  and  be  felt  throughout  the  loyal  States,  and  I 
doubt  not  the  gallant  soldiers  you  raise  will  be  felt  among 
the  barbarians  in  arms  against  our  country. 

“ Every  great  war  has  underlying  it  a great  idea.  What 
is  the  great  idea  which  gives  impulse  and  motive  power 
to  this  war?  It  is  our  nationality.  The  grand  idea  of  a 
great  continental  republic,  ocean  bounded,  and  extending 
from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  commanding  the  respect  of  the 
world,  is  an  idea  implanted  deeply  in  the  American  heart, 
and  it  is  one  for  which  every  American  patriot  will  fight, 
and  if  necessary  die.  Nowhere  is  this  sentiment  stronger 
than  in  the  Northwest.  With  one  hand  we  clasp  the 
East,  and  with  the  other  the  Northwest  will  grip  the 
South,  and  we  will  hold  this  Union  together.  We  will  not 
see  this  grand  republic  split  up  into  contemptible  Mexican 
provinces — always  fighting  and  destroying  each  other. 
Incident  to  this  idea  of  nationality — and  becoming  every 
day  stronger — is  another,  that  this  grand  republic  must 
be  all  free,  filled  wTith  one  great,  free  population. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


131 


“ The  suicide  of  slavery  is  being  enacted  before  our  eyes. 
Let  the  cursed,  barbarous,  traitor-breeding  institution  die. 
The  slave-holder  has  himself  given  to  it  the  mortal  wound ; 
let  no  timid  Northern  dough-face  attempt  to  staunch  the 
blood.  The  end  of  slavery  will  prove  the  regeneration  of 
the  Nation. 

“ Liberal  bounty  is  offered  to  the  gallant  volunteer.  I 
wish  to  state  a fact  which  may  not  be  generally  known. 
The  Congress  just  adjourned  provided  by  law  that  all  our 
foreign-born  soldiers  should  become  the  adopted  children 
of  the  Republic;  he  who  fights  for  the  flag  shall  be  im- 
mediately a citizen.  We  could  not  do  less  for  the  gallant 
Germans,  the  countrymen  of  Sigel,  and  Osterhaus,  and 
Willich, — for  the  brave  Irishmen,  who,  under  Meagher, 
and  Shields,  and  Mulligan,  are  fighting  for  the  old  flag. 
To  every  Irishman  I would  say,  remember  Corcoran,  and 
rally  to  his  rescue. 

“Who  shall  pay  the  cost  of  this  war?  Let  us  quarter 
on  the  enemy,  confiscate  the  property,  and  free  the  slaves 
of  rebels.” 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BEFORE  THE  CONFLICT. 


Lincoln’s  Departure  for  Washington— Farewell  Words  at  Springfield— 
Speech  at  Cincinnati— Inaugural  Message— Resignation  of  Southern 
Senators  and  Representatives— Vulgar  Cartoon  of  Lincoln  by  Harper’s 
Weekly. 


The  politicians  of  the  slave  States,  as  we  have  before 
shown,  had,  for  forty  years,  sounded  the  disunion  cry 
whenever  the  National  Government  had  manifested  any 
disposition  not  to  comply  with  their  every  demand;  and 
now  that  the  North  had  elected,  as  they  termed  it,  an 
Abolitionist  President,  there  was  concert  of  action  among 
those  States  in  putting  that  oft-repeated  threat  into  exe- 
cution, and  without  waiting  to  consult  the  newly  elected 


132 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Chief  Magistrate  as  to  his  feelings  or  intentions  regarding 
the  policy  he  would  pursue,  and  while  they  held  the  con- 
trolling power  in  both  branches  of  Congress  and  the  Supreme 
Court,  twelve  of  the  slave  States  had  passed  ordinances  of 
secession,  and  on  the  4th  day  of  February,  four  days  before 
the  President-elect  had  left  Springfield  for  Washington, 
they  met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  and  formed  the  so- 
called  Southern  Confederacy,  with  slavery  as  its  chief 
corner  stone.  This  was  followed  by  active  preparations 
for  war.  Buchanan’s  Administration  had  permitted  the 
firing  upon  the  Star  of  the  West,  which  carried  supplies 
to  Fort  Sumter,  to  pass  without  redress,  and  State  after 
State  to  secede  without  offering  the  slightest  protest.  In- 
deed, the  President  had  expressed  in  his  last  annual  mes- 
sage the  remarkable  opinion,  that  “ no  power  has  been 
delegated  to  coerce  into  submission  a State  that  is  attempt- 
ing to  withdraw,  or  has  entirely  withdrawn,  from  the  Con- 
federacy.” This  singular  conduct  on  the  part  of  the 
outgoing  administration,  and  the  extraordinary  proceeding 
of  the  seceded  States  in  setting  up  a government  for 
themselves,  created  a widespread  feeling  of  alarm  among 
the  law-abiding  citizens  of  the  North;  and  Mr.  Lincoln, 
himself,  was  evidently  deeply  agitated  as  to  what  would 
be  the  finality  of  the  momentous  issue,  and  the  grave 
responsibilities  he  was  so  soon  to  assume  weighed  heavily 
upon  his  mind.  He  felt  that  the  temple  of  liberty,  founded 
more  than  three-quarters  of  a century  before,  was  being 
shaken  from  center  to  circumference,  and  the  absorbing 
thought  of  his  great  mind  was,  how  should  he  prevent  the 
temple  from  falling  to  pieces,  and  yet,  at  the  same  time, 
preserve  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people. 

On  the  day  he  left  Springfield,  February  11,  many  of 
his  personal  and  political  friends  had  assembled  at  the 
depot  to  give  him  a loving  farewell,  and  in  bidding  them 
adieu,  for  the  last  time — for  he  was  never  in  Springfield 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


133 


again,  alive — he  addressed  them  in  this  feeling  and  pathetic 
manner : 

“My  Friends — No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appre- 
ciate the  sadness  I feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I 
owe  all  that  I am.  Here  I have  lived  more  than  a quar- 
ter of  a centujry,  here  my  children  were  born,  and  here 
one  of  them  lies  buried.  I know  not  how  soon  I will  see 
you  again.  A duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is  perhaps 
greater  than  that  which  has  rested  upon  any  other  man 
since  the  day  of  Washington.  He  would  never  have  suc- 
ceeded except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  on  which 
he  at  all  times  relied.  I feel  that  I can  not  succeed  with- 
out the  same  Divine  aid  which  sustained  him.  On  the 
same  Almighty  Being  I place  my  reliance  for  support; 
and  I hope  you,  my  friends,  will  pray  that  I may  receive 
that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I can  not  succeed, 
but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again,  I bid  you  all 
an  affectionate  farewell.' ” 

Reaching  Cincinnati,  he  was  called  out  for  a speech,  and 
being  in  the  vicinity  of  Kentucky,  one  of  the  slave  States, 
and  doubtless  with  many  slave-holders  as  his  hearers,  he 
took  occasion  to  advert,  briefly  but  with  perfect  frankness, 
to  the  policy  he  should  pursue  towards  those  States.  We 
quote  his  language,  as  it  appeared  in  the  public  prints  of 
that  day: 

“I  have  spoken  but  once  before  in  Cincinnati.  That 
was  a year  previous  to  the  late  Presidential  election.  On 
that  occasion,  in  a playful  manner,  but  with  sincere  words, 
I addressed  much  of  what  I said  to  the  Kentuckians.  I 
gave  my  opinion  that  we  as  Republicans  would  ultimately 
beat  them  as  Democrats,  but  that  they  could  postpone  the 
result  longer  by  nominating  Senator  Douglas  for  the  Presi- 
dency, than  in  any  other  way.  They  did  not  in  any  true 
sense  nominate  Mr.  Douglas,  and  the  result  has  certainly 
come  as  soon  as  ever  I expected.  I told  them  how  I expected 
they  would  be  treated  after  they  should  be  beaten,  and  I 
now  wish  to  call  their  attention  to  what  I then  said.  When 
beaten,  you  perhaps  will  want  to  know  what  we  will  do 
with  you.  I will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I am  authorized  to 
speak  for  the  opposition.  We  mean  to  treat  you  as  near 
as  we  possibly  can  as  Washington,  Jefferson  and  Madison 
treated  you.  We  mean  to  leave  you  alone,  and  in  no  way 
interfere  with  your  institutions.  We  mean  to  recognize 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


and  bear  in  mind  that  you  have  as  good  hearts  in  your 
bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim  to  have,  and 
treat  you  accordingly.  Fellow-citizens  of  Kentucky, 
brethren  may  I call  you,  in  my  new  position  I see  no 
occasion  and  feel  no  inclination  to  retract  a word  from 
this.  If  it  shall  not  be  made  good,  be  assured  the  fault 
shall  not  be  mine.”  * 

We  will  not  follow  him  through  his  travels  to  the  Na- 
tional capital,  further  than  to  say,  that  in  order  to  reach 
that  city  in  safety  he  was  compelled  to.  change  his  plans, 
as  to  his  passage  through  Baltimore,  lest  he  should  be 
assassinated. 

His  inaugural  message  had  been  prepared  with  great 
care,  and  addressed  itself  to  the  sober,  second-thought  of 
the  people  of  all  the  States.  The  platform  on  which  he 
had  made  the  race  for  President,  and  which  was  still 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  was  utterly  thrown 
aside,  and  in  concluding  this,  his  first  state  paper,  he 
addressed  himself,  in  this  language,  directly  to  his  dis- 
satisfied countrymen: 

“ Apprehensions  seem  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a Republican 
administration  their  property  and  their  peace  and  per- 
sonal security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never 
been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  In-* 
deed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all 
the  while  existed,  and  have  been  open  to  their  inspection. 
It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  public  speeches  of  him  who 
now  addresses  you.  I consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  ex- 
tent of  my  ability  I will  take  care,  as  the  Constitution 
expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union 
be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this,  I 
deem  it  only  a simple  duty  on  my  part,  and  I shall 
perform  it,  so  far  as  possible,  unless  my  rightful 
masters,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold  the  requi- 
site means,  or  shall,  in  some  other  authoritative  manner, 
direct  the  contrary.  Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  sepa- 
rate. We  cannot  move  the  respective  sections  from  each 
other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between  them.  A 
husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced  and  go  out  of  the 
presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


135 


different  parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this.  They  can  not 
but  remain  face  to  face,  and  intercourse,  either  amicable 
or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible, 
then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or 
more  satisfactory  after  separation  than  before  ? Can  aliens 
make  treaties  more  easily  than  friends  can  make  laws 
among  friends?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not 
fight  always,  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides, 
and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical 
old  questions  are  upon  you.  In  your  hands,  my  dissatis- 
fied fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous 
issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government  will  not  assail  you. 
You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  solemn  oath  registered  in  heaven 
to  destroy  the  government,  while  I shall  have  the  most 
solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.  I am 
loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained, 
it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic 
cords  of  memory  stretching  from  every  battlefield  and 
patriot’s  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the 
Union  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the 
better  angels  of  our  nature.” 

It  would  seem  after  these  unqualified  personal  and  official 
declarations  regarding  the  policy  of  his  Administration 
towards  the  Southern  States,  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  necessity  for  doubt  in  the  public  mind  as  to  what  he 
would  do,  for  he  had  given  them  the  strongest  assurance 
that  he  meant  only  to  execute  the  laws  as  he  found  them, 
and  that  he  would  preserve,  protect  and  defend  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

So  great  was  the  domination  of  Southern  sentiment  in 
the  North,  that  even  Harper's  Weekly  printed  a vulgar 
cartoon  of  President  Lincoln,  as  he  passed  through  Balti- 
more. When  he  took  the  oath  of  office  he  was  surrounded 
by  traitors  within  and  without;  on  the  right  and  on  the 
left ; and  notwithstanding  the  pacific  language  of  his 
inaugural  address,  Southern  Senators  and  Bepresentatives 
precipitately  resigned  their  seats  in  Congress  and  cast  their 
fortunes  with  the  so-called  Southern  Confederacy.  The 


136 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  these  men  deserted  their 
trusts  at  a time  when  the  Democrats  had  a majority  in 
both  houses  of  Congress,  and  there  was  not  a single  law 
upon  the  statute  books  of  the  Nation  which  had  been 
fathered  or  fostered  by  a Republican  or  Abolitionist  re- 
lating to  the  question  of  slavery  or  the  right  of  the  people 
of  the  slave  States  to  manage  their  domestic  affairs  in 
their  own  way ; and  with  the  most  solemn  assurance  from 
the  President  staring  them  in  the  face,  that  he  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  he 
had  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery,, 
and  no  disposition  to  do  so,  whether  the  right  existed 
or  not. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

STEPHEN  A,  DOUGLAS, 


Douglas*  Prophecy— Avows  His  Determination  to  Stand  by  President 
Lincoln— His  Patriotic  Address  at  Springfield— Speech  at  Chicago — 
Death  at  Chicago— Monument  to  His  Memory. 


Among  the  many  able  men  Illinois  has  had  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  State  and  Nation,  there  has  been  no  grander 
man  than  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  at  no  time  did  his 
patriotism  or  ability  shine  forth  with  more  splendor  than 
when  the  seceding  States  made  war  upon  his  country’s 
flag,  and  among  all  our  statesmen,  there  was  none  who- 
had  a clearer  vision  as  to  what  was  to  be  the  results  of 
the  war.  In  Arnold’s  history  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  re- 
lated this  prophecy:  “Gen.  Charles  Stuart,  of  New  York,, 
was  a caller  at  Douglas’  house  in  Washington,  on  New 
Year’s  day,  1861,  and  to  the  question,  ‘What  will  be  the- 
result  of  the  efforts  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  associates. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  137 

to  divide  the  Union  ?’  Douglas,  rising  and  looking  like 
one  inspired,  replied.  ‘The  cotton  States  are  making  an 
effort  to  draw  in  the  border  States  to  their  schemes  of 
secession,  and  I am  but  too  fearful  they  will  succeed.  If 
they  do  succeed,  there  will  be  the  most  terrible  civil  war 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  lasting  for  years.'  Pausing  a 
a moment,  he  exclaimed,  ‘Virginia  will  become  a charnel 
house,  but  the  end  will  be  the  triumph  of  the  Union  cause. 
One  of  their  first  efforts  will  be  to  take  possession  of  this 
Capital,  to  give  them  prestige  abroad,  but  they  will  never 
succeed  in  taking  it.  The  North  will  rise  en  masse  to 
defend  it,  but  Washington  will  become  a city  of  hospitals — 
the  churches  will  be  used  for  the  sick  and  wounded — even 
this  house  (Minnesota  block,  afterwards,  and  during  the 
war  the  Douglas  Hospital)  may  be  devoted  to  that  pur- 
pose before  the  end  of  the  war.’  The  friend  to  whom  this 
was  said  inquired,  ‘What  justification  for  all  this  ?’  Doug- 
las replied,  ‘There  is  no  justification,  nor  any  pretense  of 
any.  If  they  remain  in  the  Union,  I will  go  as  far  as  the 
Constitution  will  permit,  to  maintain  their  just  rights,  and 
I do  not  doubt  a majority  of  Congress  would  do  the  same. 
But,'  said  he,  again  rising  on  his  feet,  and  extending  his 
arm,  ‘if  the  Southern  States  attempt  to  secede  from  this 
Union  without  further  cause,  I am  in  favor  of  their  hav- 
ing just  so  many  slaves,  and  just  so  much  slave  territory, 
as  they  can  hold  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  no 
more.'  ” 

The  words  of  Douglas  proved  as  prophetic  as  they  were 
patriotic. 

Soon  after  President  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation 
calling  for  75,000  troops,  Senator  Douglas  called  on  him 
and  warmly  assured  him  of  his  purpose  to  stand  by  him 
in  the  hour  of  the  country's  peril.  At  the  request  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  he  dictated  this  dispatch,  which  was  sent  through 
the  Associated  Press  to  the  country: 


138 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ April  18,  1861, . Senator  Douglas  called  on  the  Presi- 
dent, and  had  an  interesting  conversation  on  the  present 
condition  of  the  country.  The  substance  of  it  was,  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Douglas,  that  while  he  was  unalterably  opposed 
to  the  Administration  in  all  its  political  issues,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  fully  sustain  the  President  in  the  exercise  of  all 
his  constitutional  functions  to  preserve  the  Union,  main- 
tain the  Government,  and  defend  the  Federal  Capital.  A 
firm  policy  and  prompt  action  was  necessary.  The  Capi- 
tal was  in  danger,  and  must  be  defended  at  all  hazards, 
and  at  any  expense  of  men  and  money.  He  spoke  of  the 
present  and  future,  without  reference  to  the  past.” 

Arriving  at  Springfield  on  the  25th  of  April,  he  addressed, 
at  their  request,  the  two  houses  of  the  General  Assembly 
in  this  decisive  and  unequivocal  language : 

“For  the  first  time  since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  a wide-spread  conspiracy  exists  to  overthrow 
the  best  government  the  sun  of  heaven  ever  shone  upon. 
An  invading  army  is  marching  upon  Washington.  The 
boast  has  gone  forth  from  the  Secretary  of  War  of  the 
so-called  Confederate  States,  that  by  the  first  of  May  the 
rebel  army  will  be  in  possession  of  the  National  Capital, 
and,  by  the  first  of  July,  its  headquarters  will  be  in  old 
Independence  Hall. 

“ The  only  question  for  us  is,  whether  we  shall  wait 
supinely  for  the  invaders,  or  rush,  as  one  man,  to  the 
defence  of  that  we  hold  most  dear.  Piratical  flags  are 
afloat  on  the  ocean,  under  pretended  letters  of  marque . 
Our  great  river  has  been  closed  to  the  commerce  of  the 

Northwest 

So  long  as  a hope  remained  of  peace,  I plead  and  implored 
for  compromise.  Now,  that  all  else  has  failed,  there  is 
but  one  course  left,  and  that  is  to  rally  as  one  man, 
under  the  flag  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  Madi- 
son and  Franklin.  At  what  time  since  the  Government 
was  organized,  have  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South 
been  more  secure  than  now?  For  the  first  time  since 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  there  is  no  legal  restriction 
against  the  spread  of  slavery  in  the  Territories.  When 
was  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  more  faithfully  executed? 
What  single  act  has  been  done  to  justify  this  mad  attempt 
to  overthrow  the  Eepublic?  We  are  told  that  because  a 
certain  party  has  carried  a Presidential  election,  therefore 
the  South  chose  to  consider  their  liberties  insecure ! I 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


139 


had  supposed  it  was  a fundamental  principle  of  American 
institutions,  that  the  will  of  the  majority,  constitutionally 
expressed,  should  govern ! If  the  defeat  at  the  ballot-box 
is  to  justify  rebellion,  the  future  history  of  the  United 
States  may  be  read  in  the  past  history  of  Mexico. 

“ It  is  a prodigious  crime  against  the  freedom  of  the 
world,  to  attempt  to  blot  the  United  States  out  of  the  map 
of  Christendom.  . . . How  long  do  you  think  it  will 
be  ere  the  guillotine  is  in  operation  ? Allow  me  to  say  to 
my  former  political  enemies,  you  will  not  be  true  to  your 
country  if  you  seek  to  make  political  capital  out  of  these 
disasters;  and  to  ray  old  friends,  you  will  be  false  and 
unworthy  of  your  principles  if  you  allow  political  defeat  to 
convert  you  into  traitors  to  your  national  land.  The 
shortest  way  now  to  peace  is  the  most  stupendous  and 
unanimous  preparations  for  war. 

“ Gentlemen,  it  is  our  duty  to  defend  our  constitution 
and  protect  our  flag.” 

Mr.  Douglas  then  proceeded  to  Chicago  where  he  spoke 
in  the  “ Republican  Wigwam,  ” the  building  in  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  had  been  nominated  for  President,  to 
a vast  audience  composed  of  men  of  all  parties.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  that  speech  will  show  that  Douglas 
had  fully  sunk  the  partisan  in  the  patriot,  and  that  he 
stood  ready  to  peril  fortune,  fame  and  honor  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Government. 

“ I beg  you  to  believe  that  I will  not  do  you  or  myself 
the  injustice  to  think  that  this  magnificent  ovation  is  per- 
sonal to  myself.  I rejoice  to  know  that  it  expresses  your 
devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union,  and  the  flag  of 
our  country.  I will  not  conceal  gratification  at  the  uncon- 
trovertible test  this  vast  audience  presents — that,  whatsoever 
political  differences  or  party  questions  may  have  divided 
us,  yet  you  all  had  a conviction  that,  when  the  country 
should  be  in  danger,  my  loyalty  could  be  relied  on.  That 
the  present  danger  is  imminent,  no  man  can  conceal.  If 
war  must  come — if  the  bayonet  must  be  used  to  maintain 
the  Constitution — I say  before  God,  my  conscience  is  clean. 
I have  struggled  long  for  a peaceful  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culty. I have  not  only  tendered  those  States  what  was 
theirs  of  right,  but  I have  gone  to  the  very  extreme  of 
magnanimity. 


140 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“The  return  we  receive  is  war;  armies  marching  upon 
our  Capital;  obstructions  and  dangers  to  our  navigation; 
letters  of  marque,  to  invite  pirates  to  prey  upon  our  com- 
merce; a concerted  movement  to  blot  out  the  United  States 
of  America  from  the  map  of  the  globe.  The  question  is, 
are  we  to  maintain  the  country  of  our  fathers,  or  allow  it 
to  be  stricken  down  by  those  who,  when  they  can  no  longer 
govern,  threaten  to  destroy? 

“What  cause,  what  excuse  do  disunionists  give  us  for 
breaking  up  the  best  Government  on  which  the  sun  of 
heaven  ever  shed  its  rays  ? They  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
result  of  the  Presidential  election.  Did  they  never  get 
beaten  before  ? Are  we  to  resort  to  the  sword  when  we  get 
defeated  at  the  ballot-box  ? I understand  it  that  the  voice 
of  the  people,  expressed  in  the  mode  appointed  by  the 
Constitution,  must  command  the  obedience  of  every  citi- 
zen. They  assume,  on  the  election  of  a particular  can- 
didate, that  their  rights  are  not  safe  in  the  Union.  What 
evidence  do  they  present  of  this?  I defy  any  man  to 
show  any  act  on  which  it  is  based.  What  act  has  been 
omitted  to  be  done?  I appeal  to  these  assembled  thous- 
ands, that  so  far  as  the  constitutional  rights  of  slave- 
holders are  concerned,  nothing  has  been  done  and  nothing 
omitted  of  which  they  can  complain. 

“There  has  never  been  a time  from  the  day  that  Wash- 
ington was  inaugurated  first  President  of  the  United 
States,  when  the  rights  of  the  Southern  States  stood 
firmer  under  the  laws  of  the  land  than  they  do  now; 
there  never  was  a time  when  they  had  not  as  good  a 
cause  for  disunion  as  they  have  to-day.  What  good  cause 
have  they  now  that  has  not  existed  under  every  adminis- 
tration ? 

“If  they  say  the  Territorial  question— now,  for  the  first 
time,  there  is  no  act  of  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  any- 
where. ^ If  it  be  the  non-enforcement  of  the  laws,  the  only 
complaints,  that  I have  heard,  have  been  of  the  too  vigor- 
ous and  faithful  fulfillment  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 
Then  what  reason  have  they? 

“The  slavery  question  is  a mere  excuse.  The  election 
of  Lincoln  is  a mere  pretext.  The  present  secession 
movement  is  the  result  of  an  enormous  conspiracy,  formed 
more  than  a year  since,  formed  by  leaders  in  the  South- 
ern Confederacy  more  than  twelve  months  ago. 

“But  this  is  no  time  for  the  detail  of  causes.  The  con- 
spiracy is  now  known.  Armies  have  been  raised,  war  is 
levied  to  accomplish  it.  There  are  only  two  sides  to  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


141 


question.  Every  man  must  be  for  the  . United  States  or 
against  it.  There  can  be  no  neutrals  in  this  war,  only 
patriots  or  traitors ., 

“Thank  God,  Illinois  is  not  divided  on  this  question. 
I know  they  expected  to  present  a united  South  against  a 
divided  North.  They  hoped  in  the  Northern  States  party 
questions  would  bring  civil  war  between  Democrats  and 
Republicans,  when  the  South  would  step  in  with  her  co- 
horts, aid  one  party  to  conquer  the  other,  and  then  make 
easy  prey  of  the  victors.  Their  scheme  was  carnage  and 
civil  war  in  the  North. 

“There  is  but  one  way  to  defeat  this.  In  Illinois  it  is 
being  so  defeated,  by  closing  up  the  ranks.  War  will 
thus  be  prevented  on  our  own  soil.  While  there  was  a 
hope  for  peace,  I was  ready  for  any  reasonable  sacrifice 
or  compromise  to  maintain  it.  But  when  the  question 
comes  of  war  in  the  cotton  fields  of  the  South,  or  the 
corn  fields  of  Illinois,  I say  the  farther  off  the  better. 

“I  have  said  more  than  I intended  to  say.  It  is  a sad 
task  to  discuss  questions  so  fearful  as  civil  war;  but  sad 
as  it  is,  bloody  and  disastrous  as  I expect  it  will  be,  I 
express  it  as  my  conviction  before  God,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  American  citizen  to  rally  around  the  flag  of  his 
country. 

“I  thank  you  again  for  this  magnificent  demonstration. 
By  it  you  show  you  have  laid  aside  party  strife.  Illinois 
has  a proud  position — united,  firm,  determined  never  to 
permit  the  Government  to  be  destroyed/’ 

This  was  the  last  public  speech  ever  made  by  the  great 
Senator,  for  at  its  close  he  returned  to  his  rooms  at  the 
Tremont  House,  where  he  was  taken  sick,  and  never  again 
left  them  alive. 

Douglas  was  one  of  the  wonderful  men  of  his  time.  He 
came  to  Illinois,  from  Vermont,  in  the  latter  part  of  1883,  then 
only  twenty  years  of  age,  and  like  Breese,  soon  won  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  the  people  of  his  adopted  State,  and 
rapidly  rose  to  distinction.  After  filling  various  public 
trusts,  among  which  were  State’s  Attorney,  Representative 
in  the  General  Assembly,  Secretary  of  State,  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  Representative  in  Congress,  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  1847,  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  James  Semple,  and  he  continued  Senator  until 


142 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


his  death — which  occurred  at  Chicago,  on  the  3d  of  June, 
1861,  which  event  was  mourned  by  the  whole  Nation. 
As  a statesman,  there  was  none  superior.  As  a public 
speaker  he  stood  without  a peer.  The  magnanimity  of 
his  nature  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  he  stood  by 
and  held  the  hat  of  his  great  rival,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
while  he  delivered  his  first  inaugural  address.  The  last 
act  of  his  life  was  a noble  appeal  for  the  preservation  of 
his  Government,  which  will  ever  render  his  name  imper- 
ishable in  the  memory  of  his  countrymen. 

A lasting  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory, 
at  Chicago,  on  the  lake  shore. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1862, 


Among  the  more  important  acts  of  the  Twenty-second 
General  Assembly  was  the  passage  of  a law  providing  for  a 
constitutional  convention  to  frame  a new  constitution.  The 
election  for  delegates  took  place  in  November,  1861.  The 
convention  was  composed  of  seventy-five  members,  forty- 
five  of  whom  were  Democrats,  twenty-one  Republicans, 
seven  Fusionists,  and  two  doubtful.  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  Democrats  had  a majority  of  fifteen  over  all,  and 
therefore  had  their  own  way.  The  convention  assembled 
on  the  7th  of  January,  1862.  John  Dement  was  elected 
President  pro  tempore ; William  A.  Hacker,  President,  and 
Wm.  M.  Springer,  Secretary. 

The  delegates  were  as  follows: 

Wm.  A.  Hacker,  Andrew  D.  Duff, 

George  W.  Waters,  Daniel  Reily, 

Wm.  J.  Allen,  George  W.  Wall, 

Milton  Bartley,  H.  K.  S.  O’Melveny, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


143 


T.  B.  Tanner, 

Thomas  W.  Stone, 

R.  P.  Hanna, 

Thomas  W.  Morgan, 
Augustus  C.  French, 
James  B.  Underwood, 
Samuel  Stevenson, 
Solomon  Koepflie, 
Samuel  A.  Buckmaster, 
Isaac  L.  Leith, 

James  H.  Parker, 
Harmon  Alexander, 
Anthony  Thornton, 
Horatio  M.  Yandeveer, 
Lewis  Solomon, 

John  W.  Woodson, 
James  A.  Eades, 
Orlando  B.  Ficklin, 
Benj.  S.  Edwards, 
James  D.  Smith, 

Joseph  Morton, 

Albert  G.  Burr, 
Alexander  Starne, 
Archibald  A.  Glenn, 
James  W.  Singleton, 
Austin  Brooks, 

John  P.  Richmond, 
Milton  M.  Merrill, 
Joseph  C.  Thompson, 
Lewis  W.  Ross, 

John  G.  Graham, 
Thompson  W.  McNeely, 
E.  L.  Austin, 

T.  R.  Webber, 


Elias  S.  Terry, 

Wm.  W.  Orme, 
Robert  B.  M.  Wilson, 
Jonathan  Simpson, 
Julius  Manning, 
Norman  H.  Purple, 
John  Burns, 
Alexander  Campbell, 
Perry  A.  Armstrong, 
Thomas  Finnie, 
Francis  Goodspeed, 

J.  W.  Paddock, 

Henry  C.  Childs, 
Stephen  B.  Stinson, 
Adoniram  J.  Joslyn, 
W.  Selden  Gale, 

Wm.  H.  Allen, 
Timothy  R.  Young, 
Robert  T.  Templeton, 
George  W.  Pleasants, 
John  Dement, 

Charles  Newcomer, 
Wellington  Weigley, 
Henry  Smith, 

Willard  P.  Naramore, 
Porter  Sheldon, 

Wm.  M.  Jackson, 
Luther  W.  Law7rence. 
Elisha  P.  Ferry, 

John  Wentworth, 
Melville  W.  Fuller, 
Elliott  Anthony, 

John  H.  Muhlke, 


There  were  many  eminent  minds  in  this  convention, 
among  whom  we  name: 

Hacker,  Allen,  Duff,  Wall,  O’Melveny,  Tanner,  Hanna, 
French,  Underwood,  Buckmaster,  Thornton,  Yandeveer, 
Ficklin,  Edwards,  Burr,  Singleton,  Ross,  Burns,  Goodspeed, 
Joslyn,  Gale,  Dement,  Wentworth,  Fuller  and  Anthony. 
This  body  assumed,  in  a very  large  degree,  both  the 


powers  of  the  Legislature  and  convention,  and  among 
other  extraordinary  acts,  passed  an  ordinance  appropriating 


144 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


$500,000  for  the  benefit  of  the  sick  and  wounded  sol- 
diers of  Illinois.  Bonds  were  to  be  issued  on  which  to 
raise  the  money,  to  bear  ten  per  cent,  interest,  but  Gov. 
Yates  gave  no  heed  to  this  act,  or  any  other  of  a 
like  nature,  believing,  as  he  did,  that  the  duty  of  the  con- 
vention was  confined  simply  to  the  framing  of  a new 
constitution. 

The  constitution  framed  provided  for  biennial  State  elec- 
tions for  all  State  officers,  and  legislated  out  of  office  the 
Governor  and  other  State  officers,  and  fixed  the  time  for 
electing  a new  State  Government  for  November,  1862. 

The  constitution  was  submitted  to  a vote  of  the  people 
the  following  June.  There  were  two  articles  submitted 
separately;  one  concerning  banks  and  currency,  and  the 
other  relating  to  negroes  and  mulattoes.  The  latter  we 
reproduce : 

“ Article  18.  Sec.  1.  No  negro  or  mulatto  shall  migrate 
to  or  settle  in  this  State,  after  the  adoption  of  this  Con- 
stitution. 

“Sec.  2.  No  negro  or  mulatto  shall  have  the  right  of 
suffrage  or  hold  office  in  this  State. 

“ Sec.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  all  laws 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this 
article.” 

The  vote  for  the  constitution  was  126,739;  against,  151,- 
254.  Majority  against  the  constitution,  24,515.  , 

The  article  relating  to  negroes  and  mulattoes  was  voted 
on  by  sections,  and  all  carried  by  unprecedented  majori- 
ties. The  article  relating  to  banks  was  lost  by  a small 
vote. 

It  was  contended  by  some  of  the  leading  Democratic 
lawyers  that  the  article  relating  to  negroes  and  mulattoes 
became  a part  of  the  constitution  of  1848,  but  the  ques- 
tion had  not  been  passed  upon  by  the  courts  when  the 
•constitution  of  1870  was  adopted. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


145 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1862. 

Late  Conventions— But  Two  Tickets— Democrats  Successful— Aggregate 
Vote  for  State  Officers— Aggregate  Vote  for  Members  of  Congress  by 
Districts. 


In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Nation  was  in  the  midst 
of  civil  war,  there  was  little  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  not  active  politicians,  to  interest  themselves  in  po- 
litical matters,  and  the  Democrats  did  not  hold  their 
convention  until  the  16th  of  September,  at  which  Alex- 
ander Starne  was  nominated  for  Treasurer,  John  P. 
Brooks  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  Jas. 
C.  Allen  for  Congressman-at-Large. 

On  the  24th  of  September,  the  Republicans  met  in  con- 
vention, and  nominated  Wm.  Butler  for  Treasurer,  Newton 
Bateman  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
Eben  C.  Ingersoll  for  Congressman-at-Large. 

The  candidates  for  Congress  made  a vigorous  canvass 
of  the  State,  but  the  Democrats  elected  their  ticket,  and 
carried  both  branches  of  the  Legislature. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressman-at- 
Large  and  by  districts,  is  as  follows: 

Treasurer. 


Alexander  Starne,  D 136,843 

William  Butler,  R 120,177 

—10 


146 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

John  P.  Brooks,  D 136,119 

Newton  Bateman,  B 120,110 

Congresshan-at-Large. 

James  C.  Allen,  D 136,257 

Eben  C.  Ingersoll,  K 119,819 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Isaac  N.  Arnold,  B 10,025 

Francis  C.  Sherman 8,387 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  B A.  12,612 

Neil  Donnelly 4,785 

Scattering 8 

Third  District. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  B 10,496 

Elias  B.  Stiles 6,785 

Scattering 1 

Fourth  District. 

Charles  W.  Harris,  D -11,626 

Charles  B.  Lawrence 8,711 

Fifth  District. 

Owen  Lovejoy,  B 11,683 

Thos.  J.  Henderson 11,020 

Benj.  Graham 617 

Scattering 4 

Sixth  District. 

Jesse  0.  Norton,  B 10,604 

T.  Lyle  Dickey 8,419 

Scattering 2 

Seventh  District. 

John  B.  Eden,  D 11,361 

Elijah  McCarty 10,004 

Eighth  District. 

John  T.  Stuart,  D 12,808 

Leonard  Swett 11,443 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


147 


Ninth  District. 

Lewis  W.  Ross,  D 13,391 

William  Ross 76 

Scattering 51 

Tenth  District. 

Anthony  L.  Knapp,  D 14,259 

Samuel  W.  Moulton 7,712 

Scattering 48 

Eleventh  District. 

Jas.  C.  Robinson,  D 13,644 

Stephen  Gr.  Hicks  5,521 

Twelfth  District. 

William  R.  Morrison,  D 10,999 

Robert  Smith 6,854 

Thirteenth  District. 

William  J.  Allen,  D 9,497 

Milton  Bartley 4,290 


CHAPTER  XV. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1863, 


Stirring  Message  of  the  Governor— Peace  Resolutions— Counter  Resolutions 
—Majority  and  Minority  Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations 
—Prorogation— Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


Governor — Richard  Yates. 

Lieutenant-Governor — Francis  A.  Hoffman. 

Secretary  of  State — 0.  M.  Hatch. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Jesse  K.  Dubois. 

Treasurer — Alexander  Starne. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — John  P.  Brooks. 


148 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Twenty-third  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-third  General  Assembly  convened  January  5, 
and  consisted  of  the  following  members: 


Senate. 


Wm.  H.  Green,  Massac. 
Hugh  Gregg,  Williamson. 

I.  Blanchard,  Jackson. 

J.  M.  Bodgers,  Clinton. 
*W.  A.  J.  Sparks,  Clinton. 
W.  H.  Underwood,  St.Clair. 
L.  E.  Worcester,  Greene. 
H.  M.Vandeveer,  Christian. 
S.  Moffat,  Effingham. 

Jos.  Peters,  Vermilion. 
Isaac  Funk,  McLean. 
Colby  Knapp,  Logan. 

H.  E.  Dummer,  Cass. 


B.  T.  Schofield,  Hancock. 
Wm.  Berry,  McDonough. 
Albert  C.  Mason,  Knox. 

John  T.  Lindsay,  Peoria. 

W.  Bushnell,  LaSalle. 

A.  W.  Mack,  Kankakee. 
Edward  B.  Allen,  Kane. 

D.  Bichards,  Whiteside. 

T.  J.  Pickett,  Bock  Island. 

J.  H.  Addams,  Stephenson. 
Cornelius  Lansing,  McHenry. 
Wm.  B.  Ogden,  Cook. 

Jasper  D.  Ward,  Cook. 


House  of  Bepresentatives. 


James  H.  Smith,  Union. 

T.  B.  Hicks,  Massac. 

Jas.  B.  Turner,  Gallatin. 
Jas.  M.  Sharp,  Wabash. 

H.  M.  Williams,  Jefferson. 
J.  M. Washburn,  Williamson. 
Jesse  B.  Ford,  Clinton. 

S.  W.  Miles,  Monroe. 

E.  Menard,  Bandolph. 

J.  W.  Merritt,  Marion. 

Jas.  M.  Heard,  Wayne. 

D.  W.  Odell,  Crawford. 

J.  W.  Wescott,  Clay. 

B.  H.  McCann,  Fayette. 

C.  L.  Conger,  White. 

J.  B.  Underwood,  St.  Clair. 
John  Thomas,  St.  Clair. 

S.  A.  Buckmaster,  Madison. 
Wm.  Watkins,  Bond. 

P.  Daugherty,  Clark. 
Beuben  Boessler,  Shelby. 

G.  F.  Coffeen,  Montgomery. 


A.  M.  Miller,  Logan. 

C.  A.  Keyes,  Sangamon. 

C.  A.  Walker,  Macoupin. 
John  N.  English,  Jersey. 
Wm.  B.  Witt,  Greene. 

Scott  Wike,  Pike. 

Albert  G.  Burr,  Scott. 

James  M.  Epler,  Cass. 
Lyman  Lacey,  Menard. 

J.  T.  Springer,  Morgan. 

A.  E.  Wheat,  Adams. 

Wm.  J.  Brown,  Adams. 
Lewis  G.  Beid,  McDonough. 
Joseph  Sharon,  Schuyler. 
Milton  M.  Morrill,  Hancock. 
Thos.  B.  Cabeen,  Mercer. 
Henry  K.  Peffer,  Warren. 
Joseph  M.  Holyoke,  Knox. 
John  G.  Graham,  Fulton. 
Simeon  P.  Shope,  Fulton. 
James  Holgate,  Stark. 

Wm.  W.  O’Brien,  Peoria. 


* Vice  J.  M.  Rodgers,  deceased. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


149 


Elias  Wenger,  Tazewell. 
Harrison  Noble,  McLean. 
Boynton  Tenny,  DeWitt. 
John  Tenbrook,  Coles. 
John  Gerrard,  Edgar. 

John  Monroe,  Vermilion. 
James  Elder,  Macon. 

*Wm.  N.  Coler,  Champaign. 
tJ.  S.  Busey,  Champaign. 
C.  A.  Lake,  Kankakee. 
Addison  Goodeil,  Iroquois. 
John  W.  Newport,  Grundy. 
Charles  E.  Boyer,  Will. 

IP.  A.  Armstrong,  Grundy. 
T.  C.  Gibson,  LaSalle. 
Mercy  B.  Patty,  Livingston. 
John  0.  Dent,  LaSalle. 
George  Dent,  Putnam. 

J.  A.  Davis,  Woodford. 
Daniel  R.  Howe,  Bureau. 
Nelson  Lay,  Henry. 

J.  Kistler,  Rock  Island. 


L.  Smith,  Whiteside. 

Demas  L.  Harris,  Lee. 
James  V.  Gale,  Ogle. 

W.  W.  Sedgwick,  DeKalb. 

L.  W.  Lawrence,  Boone. 
Sylvester  S.  Mann,  Kane. 
Jacob  P.  Black,  Kendall. 
Elijah  M.  Haines,  Lake. 

T.  B.  Wakeman,  McHenry. 
S.  M.  Church,  Winnebago. 
H.  C.  Burchard,  Stephenson. 
Henry  Green,  Jo  Daviess. 
Jos.  F.  Chapman,  Carroll. 

A.  S.  Barnard,  DuPage. 
Ansel  B.  Cook,  Cook. 

Amos  G.  Throop,  Cook. 

Wm.  E.  Ginther,  Cook. 
Melville  W.  Fuller,  Cook. 
*George  W.  Gage,  Cook. 
§Michael  Brandt,  Cook. 
Francis  A.  Eastman,  Cook. 
Lorenzo  Brentano,  Cook. 


The  Democrats  had  a majority  in  both  branches.  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Hoffman  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
Manning  Mayfield,  of  Massac,  was  elected  Secretary,  over 
L.  H.  Burnham,  of  Stephenson,  by  a vote  of  18  to  10. 

Samuel  A.  Buckmaster,  of  Madison,  was  elected  Speaker 
of  the  House,  over  Luther  W.  Lawrence,  of  Boone,  by  a 
vote  of  52  to  25,  and  John  Q.  Harmon,  of  Alexander,  Clerk, 
over  John  C.  Southwick,  of  Lake,  by  a vote  of  58  to  25. 

Among  the  new  members  of  this  General  Assembly  who 
were  prominent,  or  attained  prominence,  were:  Menard, 
Merritt,  Conger,  Thomas,  Wike,  Shope,  O’Brien,  Mann, 
Burchard,  Fuller,  Eastman,  Brentano. 

The  Governor’s  message  was  laid  before  the  two  houses 
on  the  6th  of  January.  It  contained  the  usual  recom- 
mendations regarding  needed  legislation  relating  to  the 

♦Seat  contested. 

tAdmitted  to  seat  of  Wm.  N.  Coler. 

tVice  John  W.  Newport,  deceased. 

§Admitted  to  seat  of  George  W.  Gage. 


150 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


several  great  interests  of  the  State,  but  the  greater  por- 
tion of  it  was  devoted  to  questions  growing  out  of  the  war. 
Eeferring  to  National  affairs,  he  said: 

“ In  the  new  policy  of  emancipation  thus  inaugurated,  I 
feel  that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  meet  and  silence 
the  prejudice  which,  for  partisan  purposes,  is  attempted 
to  be  excited  against  the  alleged  injurious  effects  of  eman- 
cipation. It  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  there  exists  a 
degree  of  prejudice  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  upon  the 
subject  of  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  to  which  politicians 
appeal  with  fatal  injury  to  the  cause  of  that  enlightened 
progress  which  has  been  so  Providentially  placed  within 
the  reach  of  the  present  generation.  A grand  opportunity 
is  presented  to  us  by  the  logic  of  events.  By  a wise  and 
Christian  policy  we  blot  out  a mighty  wrong  to  one  class 
of  people  now  in  bondage,  and  secure  lasting  peace  and 
happiness  to  another. 

“ I am  sure  of  two  things  : First — that  when  slavery  is 
removed,  this  rebellion  will  die  out,  and  not  before.  Sec- 
ond— I believe  and  predict,  and  commit  the  prediction  in 
this  State  paper  to  meet  the  verdict  of  my  successors  in 
office,  and  of  posterity,  that  the  change  brought  about  by 
the  policy  of  emancipation  will  pass  off  in  a way  so  quietly 
and  so  easily  that  the  world  will  stand  amazed  that  we 
should  have  entertained  such  fears  of  its  evils.  . . . 

“ I demand  the  removal  of  slavery.  In  the  name  of  my 
country,  whose  peace  it  has  disturbed,  and  plunged  into 
fearful  civil  war ; in  the  name  of  the  heroes  it  has  slain ; 
in  the  name  of  justice,  whose  highest  tribunals  it  has 
corrupted  and  prostituted  to  its  basest  ends  and  purposes ; 
in  the  name  of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  and  all  the  old 
patriots  who  struggled  round  about  the  camps  of  liberty, 
and  who  looked  forward  to  the  early  extinction  of  slavery ; 
in  the  name  of  progress,  civilization  and  liberty,  and  in 
the  name  of  God  Almighty  himself,  I demand  the  utter 
and  entire  demolition  of  this  heaven-cursed  wrong  of  hu- 
man bondage — this  sole  cause  of  the  treason,  death  and 
misery  which  fill  the  land.  Fear  not  the  consequences, 
for  the  Almighty  will  uphold  the  arms  of  the  hosts  whose 
banners  are  blazoned  with  the  glorious  war-cry  of  liberty. 


“ Slavery  removed,  and  we  shall  have  peace— solid  and 
enduring  peace — and  our  Nation,  entering  upon  a new 
career,  will  leap  with  a mighty  bound  to  be  the  greatest 
and  freest  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


151 


“I  regret  that  appeals  are  being  made  to  the  masses 
by  a few  public  presses  in  the  country  for  separation  from 
New  England.  Not  a drop  of  New  England  blood  courses 
my  veins;  still  I should  deem  myself  an  object  of  com- 
miseration and  shame  if  I could  forget  her  glorious  his- 
tory ; if  I could  forget  that  the  blood  of  her  citizens  freely 
commingled  with  that  of  my  own  ancestors  upon  those 
memorable  fields  which  ushered  in  the  millennium  dawn 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  I purpose  not  to  be  the  eulo- 
gist of  New  England ; but  she  is  indissolubly  bound  to  us 
by  all  the  bright  memories  of  the  past,  by  all  the  glory 
of  the  present,  by  all  the  hopes  of  the  future.  I shall 
always  glory  in  the  fact  that  I belong  to  a republic  in  the 
galaxy  of  whose  stars  New  England  is  among  the  brightest 
and  best.  Palsied  be  the  hand  that  would  sever  the  ties 
which  bind  the  East  and  West.” 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  12th  of  Jan- 
uary and  proceeded  to  elect  a Senator  of  the  United  States 
to  succeed  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  deceased.  Wm.  A.  Rich- 
ardson received  65  votes  and  Richard  Yates  38.  Richard- 
son having  received  a majority  of  all  the  votes  cast,  the 
Speaker  declared  him  the  duly  elected  Senator. 

This  was  not  a harmonious  body.  We  were  then  in  the 
second  year  of  the  war,  and  there  existed  a radical  differ- 
ence between  the  respective  parties  relating  to  the  meas- 
ures employed  by  the  National  Government  to  overthrow 
the  rebellion,  and  much  of  the  time  of  the  session  was 
occupied  in  a violent  and  fruitless  discussion  of  these 
questions;  but  that  the  reader  may  have  a clear  under- 
standing of  the  spirit  and  temper  of  that  assembly,  we 
print  the  views  of  the  respective  parties  on  the  questions 
at  issue  as  they  were  presented  by  the  majority  and  min- 
ority reports  from  the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations. 
The  report  of  the  majority  was  in  these  words: 

“Whereas,  The  Union  has  no  existence  separate  from 
the  Federal  Constitution,  but,  being  created  solely  by  that 
instrument,  it  can  only  exist  by  virtue  thereof;  and  when 
.the  provisions  of  that  Constitution  are  suspended,  either 
in  time  of  war  or  in  peace,  whether  by  the  North  or  the 
South,  it  is  alike  disunion;  and 


152 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS* 


“ Whereas,  The  Federal  Government  can  lawfully  exer- 
cise no  power  that  is  not  conferred  upon  it  by  the  Federal 
Constitution,  the  exercise,  therefore,  of  other  powers,  not 
granted  by  that  instrument,  in  time  of  war,  as  well  as  in 
time  of  peace,  is  a violation  of  the  written  will  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  destructive  of  their  plan  of  government,  and 
of  their  common  liberties ; and 

“ Whereas,  The  Constitution  cannot  be  maintained,  nor 
the  Union  preserved,  in  opposition  to  public  feeling,  by 
a mere  exercise  of  the  coercive  powers  confided  to  the 
General  Government,  and  that,  in  case  of  differences  and 
conflicts  between  the  States  and  the  Federal  Government,, 
too  powerful  for  adjustment  by  the  civil  departments  of 
the  Government,  the  appeal  is  not  to  the  sword,  by  the 
State,  or  by  the  General  Government,  but  to  the  people, 
peacefully  assembled  by  their  Representatives  in  conven- 
tion; and 

‘‘Whereas,  The  allegiance  of  the  citizen  is  due  alone  to 
the  Constitution  and  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof — not 
to  any  man,  or  officer,  or  administration— -and  whatever 
support  is  due  to  any  officer  of  this  Government,  is  due 
alone  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  and  laws;  and 

“Whereas,  also,  The  condition  of  the  whole  Republic, 
but  more  especially  the  preservation  of  the  liberties  of  the 
people  of  Illinois,  imperatively  demands  that  we,  their 
representatives,  should  make  known  to  our  fellow  country- 
men our  deliberate  judgment  and  will; 

“We  therefore  declare,  That  the  acts  of  the  Federal 
Administration  in  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus , the 
arrest  of  citizens  not  subject  to  military  law,  without 
warrant  and  without  authority — transporting  them  to  dis- 
tant States,  incarcerating  them  in  political  prisons,  with- 
out charge  or  accusation — denying  them  the  right  of  trial 
by  jury,  witnesses  in  their  favor,  or  counsel  for  their 
defense;  withholding  from  them  all  knowledge  of  their 
accusers,  and  the  cause  of  their  arrest — answering  their’ 
petitions  for  redress  by  repeated  injury  and  insult — pre- 
scribing, in  many  cases,  as  a condition  of  their  release, 
test  oaths,  arbitrary  and  illegal;  in  the  abridgment  of' 
freedom  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  by  imprisoning  the 
citizen  for  expressing  his  sentiments,  by  suppressing  news- 
papers by  military  force,  and  establishing  a censorship 
over  others,  wholly  incompatible  with  freedom  of  thought 
and  expression  of  opinion,  and  the  establishment  of  a sys- 
tem of  espionage  by  a secret  police,  to  invade  the  sacred 
privacy  of  unsuspecting  citizens;  declaring  martial  law* 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


155 


over  States  not  in  rebellion,  and  where  the  courts  are 
open  and  unobstructed  for  the  punishment  of  crime ; in 
declaring  the  slaves  of  loyal,  as  well  as  disloyal  citizens, 
in  certain  States  and  parts  of  States,  free ; the  attempted 
enforcement  of  compensated  emancipation;  the  proposed 
taxation  of  the  laboring  white  man  to  purchase  the  free- 
dom and  secure  the  elevation  of  the  negro ; the  transporta- 
tion of  negroes  into  the  State  of  Illinois,  in  defiance  of  the 
repeatedly  expressed  will  of  the  people ; . the  arrest  and 
imprisonment  of  the  Representatives  of  a free  and  sover- 
eign State ; the  dismemberment  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
erecting  within  her  boundaries  a new  State,  without  the 
consent  of  her  Legislature,  are  each  and  all  arbitrary  and 
unconstitutional,  a usurpation  of  the  legislative  functions, 
a suspension  of  the  judicial  departments  of  the  State  and 
Federal  Governments,  subverting  the  Constitution — State 
and  Federal — invading  the  reserved  rights  of  the  people, 
and  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and,  if  sanctioned,  de- 
structive of  the  Union — establishing  upon  the  common 
ruins  of  the  liberties  of  the  people  and  the  sovereignty 
of  the  States  a consolidated  military  despotism. 

“And  we  hereby  solemnly  declare  that  no  American 
citizen  can,  without  the  crime  of  infidelity  to  his  country’s 
Constitutions,  and  the  allegiance  which  he  bears  to  each, 
sanction  such  usurpations. 

“Believing  that  our  silence  would  be  criminal,  and  may 
be  construed  into  consent,  in  deep  reverence  for  our  Con- 
stitution, which  has  been  ruthlessly  violated,  we  do  hereby 
enter  our  most  solemn  protest  against  these  usurpations 
of  power,  and  place  the  same  before  the  world,  intending 
thereby  to  warn  our  public  servants  against  further  usur- 
pations ; therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Senate  con- 
curring herein , That  the  army  was  organized,  confiding  in 
the  declaration  of  the  President,  in  his  inaugural  address, 
to-wit:  “That  he  had  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  existed,  and  that  he  believed  he  had  no  lawful 
right  to  do  so,  and  that  he  had  no  inclination  to  do  so;” 
and  upon  the  declaration  of  the  Federal  Congress,  to-wit : 
“That  this  war  is  not  waged  in  any  spirit  of  oppression 
or  subjugation,  or  any  purpose  of  overthrowing  any  of  the 
institutions  of  any  of  the  States;”  and  that,  inasmuch  as 
the  whole  policy  of  the  Administration,  since  the  organi- 
zation of  the  army,  has  been  at  war  with  the  declarations 
aforesaid,  culminating  in  the  emancipation  proclamation, 


154 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


leaving  the  facts  patent,  that  the  war  has  been  diverted 
from  its  first  avowed  object  to  that  of  subjugation  and  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  a fraud,  both  legal  and  moral,  has 
been  perpetrated  upon  the  brave  sons  of  Illinois,  who  have 
so  nobly  gone  forth  to  battle  for  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws.  And,  while  we  protest  against  the  continuance  of 
this  gross  fraud  upon  our  citizen  soldiers,  we  thank  them 
for  that  heroic  conduct  on  the  battlefields  that  shed  im- 
perishable glory  on  the  State  of  Illinois. 

* 'Resolved,  That  we  believe  the  further  prosecution  of  the 
present  war  can  not  result  in  the  restoration  of  the  Union 
and  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution,  as  our  fathers 
made  it,  unless  the  President’s  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion be  withdrawn. 

6 'Resolved,  That  while  we  condemn  and  denounce  the 
flagrant  and  monstrous  usurpations  of  the  Administration, 
and  encroachments  of  Abolitionism,  we  equally  condemn 
and  denounce  the  ruinous  heresy  of  secession,  as  unwar- 
ranted by  the  Constitution,  and  destructive  alike  of  the 
security  and  perpetuity  of  our  Government,  and  the  peace 
and  liberty  of  the  people;  and  fearing,  as  we  do,  that  it 
is  the  intention  of  the  present  Congress  and  Administra- 
tion, at  no  distant  day,  to  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  thereby  sever  the  Union, 
we  hereby  solemnly  declare  that  we  are  unalterably  op- 
posed to  any  such  severance  of  the  Union,  and  that  we 
never  can  consent  that  the  great  Northwest  shall  be  sep- 
arated from  the  Southern  States,  comprising  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  That  river  shall  never  water  the  soil  of  two 
nations,  but,  from  its  source  to  its  confluence  with  the 
gulf,  shall  belong  to  one  great  and  united  people. 

“ Resolved , That  peace,  fraternal  relations  and  political 
fellowship  should  be  restored  among  the  States,  that  the 
best  interests  of  all,  and  the  welfare  of  mankind,  require 
that  this  should  be  done  in  the  most  speedy  and  effective 
manner ; that  it  is  to  the  people  we  must  look  for  a res- 
toration of  the  Union,  and  the  blessings  of  peace,  and  to 
these  ends  we  should  direct  our  earnest  and  honest  efforts  ; 
and  hence  we  are  in  favor  of  the  assembling  of  a National 
Convention  of  all  the  States,  to  so  adjust  our  National 
difficulties  that  the  States  may  hereafter  live  together  in 
harmony,  each  being  secured  in  the  rights  guaranteed  to 
all  by  our  fathers ; and  which  Convention  we  recommend 
shall  convene  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  or  such  other  place  * 
as  shall  be  determined  upon  by  Congress  or  the  several 
.States,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


155 


“ Resolved , further , therefore , That  to  attain  the  objects 
of  the  foregoing  resolution,  we  hereby  memorialize  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  Administration  at 
Washington,  and  the  Executives  and  Legislatures  of  the 
several  States,  to  take  such  action  as  shall  secure  an 
armistice,  in  which  the  rights  and  safety  of  the  Govern- 
ment shall  be  fully  protected,  for  such  length  of  time  as 
will  enable  the  people  to  meet  in  convention  as  aforesaid. 
And  we,  therefore,  earnestly  recommend  to  our  fellow- 
citizens  everywhere,  to  observe  and  keep  all  their  lawful 
and  constitutional  obligations ; to  abstain  from  all  violence, 
and  to  meet  together  and  reason,  each  with  the  other, 
upon  the  best  mode  to  attain  the  great  blessings  of  peace, 
unity  and  liberty;  and,  be  it  further 

“ Resolved , That  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  the  States 
and  the  General  Government,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  Samuel 
S.  Marshall,  H.  K.  S.  O’Melveny,  William  C.  Goudy,  An- 
thony Thornton  and  John  D.  Caton,  are  hereby  appointed 
commissioners  to  confer  immediately  with  Congress  and 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  with  the  Legis- 
latures and  Executives  of  the  several  States,  and  urge 
the  necessity  of  prompt  action  to  secure  said  armistice, 
and  the  election  of  delegates  to,  and  early  assembling  of, 
said  convention ; and  to  arrange  and  agree  with  the  Gen- 
eral Government  and  the  several  States,  upon  the  time 
and  place  of  holding  said  convention;  and  that  they  re- 
port their  action  in  the  premises  to  the  General  Assembly 
of  this  State. 

“ Resolved , That  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives be  requested  to  transmit  a copy  of  the  foregoing 
preamble  and  resolutions  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  to  each  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress,  and  to  each  of  the  Governors  and  the  Speakers 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  several  States.” 

The  minority  report  was  as  follows : 

“ Resolved , That  in  the  present  condition  of  our  National 
affairs,  and  in  the  existence  of  the  troubles  which  sur- 
round our  country,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens 
cordially  to  support  the  National  and  State  administra- 
tions, and  that  we  hereby  offer  to  the  administration  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Richard  Yates,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  our 
earnest  and  cordial  support  in  the  efforts  of  their  respec- 
tive administrations  to  put  down  the  present  most  infamous 
rebellion. 


156 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ Resolved , That  while  we  admit  that  during  the  present 
terrible  and  unjustifiable  rebellion  it  would  be  impossible 
for  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  discharge  his  duties 
so  as  to  satisfy  the  views  of  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  yet  as  he  is  the  officer  invested  with  the  constitu- 
tional power  to  act  as  the  executive  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  putting  down  the  present  rebellion,  which  is  seeking 
our  overthrow,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  loyal  citizens  to 
strengthen  the  President’s  arm  for  the  contest,  and  to  give 
him  that  moral  and  material  aid  and  support,  regardless 
of  mere  party  difference  of  opinion,  that  will  be  effectual 
to  put  down  insurrection  and  sustain  our  Government, 
and  we  hold  that  no  man  can  be  regarded  as  a lover  of 
his  country  who  will  not  make  any  sacrifice  that  is  needed 
to  sustain  the  Government  under  which  he  lives. 

“ Resolved , That  it  is  the  first  and  highest  duty  of  the 
National  Government  to  crush  out  the  existing  rebellion;, 
that  our  own  happiness,  prosperity  and  power  as  a peo- 
ple, and  the  fate  of  republican  institutions  throughout  the 
world  are  involved  in  this  great  issue ; and  in  order  to 
accomplish  that  result,  it  is  both  the  right  and  duty  of 
the  Government  to  use  all  means  recognized  by  the  laws 
of  civilized  warfare. 

“ Resolved , That  the  Constitution  of  our  fathers  and  the 
irrepealable  laws  of  nature  unite  in  indissoluble  bonds  the 
great  Northwest  with  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Eastern  seaboard ; that  we  should  be  as  ready,  if  need 
were,  to  crush  secession  in  the  East  as  in  the  South,  and 
that  we  will  never  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
or  to  the  abandonment  by  the  National  Government  of 
its  constitutional  sovereignty  over  any,  the  least  portion 
of  our  territory. 

“ Resolved , That  we  have  no  terms  of  compromise  to 
propose  to  rebels  in  arms;  that  we  should  regard  propo- 
sitions by  the  loyal  States  for  a cessation  of  hostilities  as 
both  fruitless  and  humiliating,  and  that  any  settlement 
of  our  National  troubles,  by  any  species  of  concession  to 
rebels,  or  by  any  mode  short  of  an  unconditional  sup- 
pression of  the  rebellion,  would  be  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  principle  of  secession,  and  would  be  offering  a pre- 
mium to  treason  for  all  time  to  come. 

“ Resolved , That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
confers  upon  the  Government  of  the  same,  all  the  powers 
necessary  to  the  effectual  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and 
to  punish  the  rebels  for  the  violation  of  their  allegiance, 
and  to  this  end  it  may  deprive  them  of  life,  liberty  or 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


157 


property,  if  required,  in  its  judgment,  and  that  an  imperious 
necessity  demanded  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
the  issuing  of  his  proclamation  of  freedom  to  the  slaves 
in  rebellious  States  and  parts  of  States,  and  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  sustain  him  in  the  same. 

“ Resolved , That  the  President,  as  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  army  and  the  executive  head  of  the  Government, 
has  the  same  undoubted  right  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus , during  an  armed  rebellion,  that  Gen.  Jack- 
son  had  to  suspend  that  writ  in  New  Orleans ; that  even 
if  individual  cases  of  hardship  have  occurred  in  conse- 
quence of  false  information  furnished  to  the  Government, 
which  it  had  good  reason  to  believe  to  be  true,  still  no 
thoroughly  loyal  citizen,  who  earnestly  desires  the  sup- 
pression of  the  rebellion,  would  seek,  for  such  causes,  to 
create  disaffection  among  the  people  towards  the  Govern- 
ment, or  to  make  them  believe  that  their  liberties  are  in 
danger,  and  that  we  have  yet  to  hear  of  the  first  truly 
loyal  man  who  believes  himself  in  danger  of  military  arrest 
or  imprisonment  in  so-called  bastiles. 

“ Resolved , That  the  object  of  the  Administration,  in 
prosecuting  the  war  against  the  rebellion,  is  now,  as  it 
ever  has  heretofore  been,  the  restoration  of  the  Union, 
and  not  the  abolishment  pf  slavery  in  the  rebellious  States ; 
that  this  last  step  is  resorted  to  by  the  President  as  a 
necessary  and  constitutional  war  measure,  and  as  a potent 
means  towards  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  object 
had  in  view — the  crushing  of  the  rebellion  and  the  resto- 
ration of  the  Union. 

Resolved , That  during  the  great  convulsion  which  afflicts 
our  country,  we  are  desirous  of  seeing  the  liberty  of  the 
citizen  as  much  respected  as  is  compatible  with  public 
safety;  but  we  distinctly  announce  our  conviction  to  be, 
that  no  man  has  a right  to  be  a traitor — that  no  man 
has  a right  to  aid  and  abet  the  enemies  of  his  country — 
that  no  man  has  a right  to  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  insur- 
rection in  opposition  to  the  constituted  and  lawful  authori- 
ties of  the  land — that  those  so  offending  act  by  virtue  of 
no  right,  but  in  their  own  wrong,  and  should  be  promptly 
and  duly  restrained  by  the  Government. 

Resolved , That  until  the  present  struggle  is  over,  and 
the  Union  restored,  the  people  should  recognize  no  party 
line  but  that  mentioned  by  Mr.  Douglas — the  line  divid- 
ing patriots  and  traitors ; that  inasmuch  as  all  traitors, 
North  and  South,  are  united,  it  behooves  all  patriots  of 
all  parties  to  stand  together  like  a band  of  brothers, 


158 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


meeting  with  unbroken  front,  and  putting  down  with  united 
strength  treason  in  all  its  forms,  and  wherever  it  may  lift 
its  head. 

Resolved , That  the  late  State  government  of  Virginia 
having  treasonably  abdicated  its  legitimate  authority,  the 
same  devolved  upon  that  portion  of  her  citizens  which 
organized  a loyal  government  in  that  section  of  her  terri- 
tory where  they  could  safely  assemble,  and  that  such  loyal 
government  was  invested  with  the  whole  power  of  the  State 
of  Virginia,  and  had  the  rightful  authority,  under  the 
National  Constitution,  with  the  sanction  of  Congress,  to 
consent  to  the  formation  of  a new  State,  carved  out  of  its 
territory. 

Resolved , That  the  courts  of  the  United  States  would 
be  wholly  inefficient  to  maintain  its  authority  against  rebels 
in  arms,  and  that  the  only  mode  in  which  the  rebellion 
can  be  put  down  is  through  the  military  arm  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  that  the  proper  duty  of  our  courts  is  to  follow, 
and  not  to  precede,  our  armies,  and  that  we  will  hail  the 
day  when  the  military  aid  can  be  dispensed  with  in  the 
administration  of  our  affairs,  and  the  civil  authority  restored 
to  its  wonted  supremacy. 

Resolved , That  the  democratic  principle,  viz : the  fre- 
quency of  elections,  and  of  submission  to  the  will  of  the 
people  as  expressed  at  the  ballot  box,  dispenses  entirely 
with  the  necessity  of  forcible  revolution  to  correct  any  real 
or  fancied  errors  of  administration,  and  this  fact  takes 
away  all  excuse  for  those  who  seek  to  inaugurate  a state 
of  anarchy  or  rebellion,  and  invests  their  crime  with  a ten- 
fold atrocity. 

Resolved , That  the  gallant  sons  of  Illinois  who  have 
gone  forth  to  fight  our  battles,  have  achieved  for  them- 
selves and  their  State  imperishable  renown ; that  the  page 
which  shall  record  their  deeds  will  be  among  the  brightest 
of  our  country’s  history,  and  having  sealed  their  hatred 
of  treason  by  the  baptism  of  the  battle-field,  they  will, 
upon  their  return,  pronounce  at  the  ballot  box,  their  con- 
demnation of  all  men  who  have  dared  to  express  a covert 
sympathy  with  traitors,  or  to  denounce  the  sacred,  cause 
for  which  they  have  shed  their  blood.” 

On  the  12th  of  February,  Mr.  Lawrence  moved  to  substi- 
tute the  minority  report  for  that  of  the  majority,  which  was 
lost  by  a vote  of  27  yeas  to  52  nays,  when  Mr.  Burr  moved 
the  previous  question  upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions 
of  the  majority  report,  which  was  decided  in  the  affirmative, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


159 


by  a vote  of  52  yeas  to  28  nays.  The  resolutions  were 
transmitted  to  the  Senate  the  same  day  for  its  concur- 
rence, and  on  motion  of  Mr.  Underwood,  they  were  made 
the  special  order  for  Friday  evening  the  13th,  at  7 o’clock. 
Pending  the  action  of  the  Senate  on  the  resolutions,  Sen- 
ator Rogers,  Democrat,  died,  which  left  the  Senate,  politi- 
cally, a tie,  and  as  the  presiding  officer  was  a Republican 
and  had  the  casting  vote,  the  resolutions  were  thus  left 
unacted  upon,  and  on  the  14th  the  two  houses  took  a 
recess  until  the  2d  of  June. 

As  may  be  inferred,  this  was  one  of  the  most  exciting 
sessions  of  the  Legislature  ever  known.  A wide  difference 
existed  between  the  Executive  and  the  dominant  party  as 
to  the  National  policy  regarding  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.  The  majority  in  either  house  lost  no  opportunity  to 
oppose  the  wishes  of  the  Executive,  and  vice  versa.  Many 
violent  speeches  were  made  in  either  house,  but  that  of  Sen- 
ator Funk,  of  McLean,  who  had  been  elected  to  succeed 
Senator  Oglesby,  was  one  of  the  most  thrilling  and  re- 
markable. Mr.  Funk  was  a Republican,  and  ardently  in 
favor  of  a vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  He  had  never 
made  a speech  before  in  his  life;  he  had  listened  for 
weeks  to  the  utterances  of  the  men  who  opposed  the  war 
policy  of  the  National  Government,  until  his  patience  was 
exhausted,  and  rising  in  his  place,  without  knowing  what 
he  was  going  to  say,  or  what  would  be  the  consequences, 
he  spoke  with  a power  and  fluency  that  filled  and  thrilled 
the  entire  capitol,  and  won  for  him  the  admiration  of  the 
war  men  throughout  the  entire  North.  His  speech  was 
reproduced  in  all  the  leading  journals  of  the  country;  it 
was  read  to  the  Union  soldiers  in  the  South,  by  order  of 
their  commanders,  and  Mr.  Funk  received  from  President 
Lincoln  a personal  letter,  thanking  him  for  the  bold  stand 
he  had  taken  in  favor  of  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  We  will 
digress  to  say  that  Senator  Funk  died  in  Bloomington,  at 


160 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


5 o’clock  a.  m.,  January  29,  1865,  at  the  residence  of  his 
son  Duncan,  surrounded  by  his  affectionate  family,  in  the 
68th  year  of  his  age;  and,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  his 
wife  died  at  9 o’clock  on  the  same  day. 

This  body  reassembled  in  June,  agreeably  to  adjourn- 
ment, and  on  the  3d  Mr.  Bushnell  introduced  a joint 
resolution  proposing  a sine  die  adjournment  on  the  lOfch. 
On  the  8th  his  resolution  was  taken  up,  and,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Mack,  was  amended  by  inserting  the  words  “at 
12  o’clock.”  Mr.  Mason  moved  to  insert  “the  16th  inst. 
at  12  o’clock.”  The  yeas  and  nays  being  demanded,  it 
was  lost,  by  a vote  of  4 yeas  to  17  nays.  The  question 
recurring  on  the  motion  to  adjourn  on  the  10th,  Mr.  Van- 
deveer  moved  to  amend  by  inserting  “6  o’clock  this  day,” 
which  was  decided  in  the  affirmative,  by  a vote  of  14  yeas 
to  7 nays.  The  resolution  was  sent  to  the  House  for  its 
concurrence.  Mr.  Walker  moved  to  amend  the  resolution 
by  striking  out  the  words  “June  8th,  at  6 o’clock  p.  m.,” 
and  inserting  in  lieu  thereof  the  words  “June  22d,  at  10 
o’clock  a.  m.”  Mr.  Haines  moved  to  strike  out  “June 
8th,  at  6 o’clock  p.  m.,”  and  insert  “June  12th,  at  10 
o’clock  a.  m.”  Mr.  Monroe  moved  to  strike  out  “June 
8th,  at  6 o’clock,”  and  insert  “June  19th,  at  10  o’clock 
a.  m.”  Mr.  Smith,  of  Union,  moved  to  lay  the  whole 
subject  on  the  table,  which  was  decided  in  the  negative, 
by  a vote  of  27  yeas  to  32  nays.  Mr.  Wike  then  moved 
the  previous  question  on  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Walker, 
which  was  decided  in  the  affirmative,  by  a vote  of  45  yeas 
to  21  nays,  when  the  resolution,  as  amended,  was  adopted 
by  a vote  of  51  yeas  to  13  nays,  and  it  was  sent  to  the 
Senate  for  its  concurrence.  A resolution  was  subsequently 
sent  by  the  House  to  the  Senate  expressing  a desire  to 
recede  from  its  action  in  amending  the  Senate  resolution 
relative  to  adjournment,  and  requested  the  return  of  the 
resolution  for  reconsideration.  There  was  no  further 


LIHP»RY 

1He 

Of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


161 


action  by  the  Senate  on  the  resolution,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  10th,  Gov.  Yates  transmitted  a message  to  the  two 
houses  proroguing  the  General  Assembly  “to  the  Saturday 
next  preceding  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1865.”  In 
the  Senate,  the  Speaker  having  vacated  his  seat,  Mr. 
Underwood  was  called  to  the  chair  when  a call  of  the 
Senate  showed  only  eight  members  present.  In  the  House^ 
the  message  proroguing  the  Assembly  was  announced  by 
the  Doorkeeper,  and  read,  but  the  bearer  was  not  recog- 
nized by  the  Speaker.  Mr.  Smith,  of  Union,  moved  to 
adjourp  until  2 o’clock.  Mr.  Burr  moved  to  adjourn  with- 
out day,  and  after  debate,  the  resolution  was  withdrawn, 
when  Mr.  Walker  moved  a call  of  the  House,  when  it  was 
found  to  be  without  a quorum.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Burr, 
a,  joint  committee,  consisting  of  three  from  the  House  and 
two  from  the  Senate,  was  appointed  to  prepare  an  address 
to  the  people,  explaining  why  they  were  not  engaged  in 
transacting  the  legitimate  business  for  which  they  were 
elected. 

On  the  presentation  of  the  message  proroguing  the  body, 
the  Republicans  at  once  absented  themselves  from  the 
two  houses  and  departed  for  their  respective  homes,  but 
the  Democrats  remained  in  session  until  the  24th  of  June, 
when  a recess  was  taken  until  the  Tuesday  after  the  first 
Monday  of  January,  1864,  at  10  o’clock  a.  m.  (See  House 
and  Senate  journals,  1868.) 

This  was  the  first,  and  only  time,  where  the  Governor 
of  the  State  had  exercised  the  power  of  prorogation,  as 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  constitution.  The  Democratic 
members  issued  a fiery  address  to  the  people  of  the  State, 
setting  forth  their  grievances,  and  the  question  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  action  of  the  Governor  was  presented  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  in  various  forms,  by  eminent  legal 
talent,  yet  that  body  never  rendered  a decision  bearing 
—11 


162 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


directly  on  the  question.  Three  Judges  then  constituted 
this  Court,  in  the  persons  of  Sidney  Breese,  Pinkney  H. 
Walker  and  John  1).  Caton,  but  the  latter  was  not  present 
when  the  cause  was  passed  upon.  Justices  Breese  and 
Walker  wrote  separate  opinions,  but  each  concurred  with 
the  other.  Justice  Breese  said:  “Admitting,  then,  that 
the  act  of  the  Governor  was,  in  the  language  of  the  pro- 
test, ‘illegal,  outrageous  and  unconstitutional,’  both  houses 
having  adopted  it  and  dispersed,  they  thereby  put  an  end 
to  the  session,  evincing  at  the  time  no  intention  to  resume 
it.  This,  for  all  practical  purposes,  was  an  adjournment 
sine  die .”  And  thus  ended  the  existence  of  this  General 
Assembly,  and  the  controversy  growing  out  of  its  proro- 
gation by  the  Governor. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1864, 


Two  State  Tickets— Two  Presidential  Candidates— Aggregate  Vote  for  State 
Officers— Aggregate  Vote  for  Members  of  Congress  by  Districts— Aggre- 
gate Vote  for  Electors. 


The  Republican  party  held  their  State  Convention  May 
25,  to  nominate  a State  ticket  and  appoint  delegates  to 
the  National  Convention.  Richard  J.  Oglesby  was  nomi- 
nated for  Governor;  William  Bross,  for  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor ; Sharon  Tyndale,  for  Secretary  of  State ; 0.  H.  Miner, 
for  Auditor;  James  H.  Beveridge,  for  Treasurer;  Newton 
Bateman,  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and 
S.  W.  Moulton  for  Congressman-at-Large. 

The  Democratic  Convention  did  not  meet  until  Septem- 
ber 6.  James  C.  Robinson  was  nominated  for  Governor; 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


163 


S.  Corning  Judd,  for  Lieutenant-Governor ; Wm.  A.  Turney, 
for  Secretary  of  State ; John  Hise,  for  Auditor ; Alexander 
Starne,  for  Treasurer ; John  P.  Brooks,  for  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  and  James  C.  Allen  for  Congress- 
man-at-Large. 

The  Republicans  met  in  National  Convention  at  Balti- 
more, June  7,  and  renominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  Presi- 
dent and  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  for  Vice-President. 

The  Democrats  met  in  National  Convention  at  Chicago, 
August  29,  and  nominated  Geo.  B.  McClellan,  of  New 
Jersey,  for  President,  and  Geo.  H.  Pendleton,  of  Ohio,  for 
Vice-President. 

This  being  the  year  of  the  Presidential  election,  the 
contest  was  therefore  active  and  earnest  on  both  sides, 
and  was  waged  with  much  bitterness.  Notwithstanding 
the  Democrats  had  nominated  a strong  war  man  for  Presi- 
dent, they  adopted  a peace  platform  in  which  they  declared 
that  the  war  for  the  Union  was  a failure,  and  demanded 
a cessation  of  hostilities,  which  platform  was  adopted  by 
the  Democratic  State  Convention. 

In  the  selection  of  Robinson  and  Allen,  the  Democracy 
had  put  forth  their  greatest  champions,  and  on  this  plat- 
form they  boldly  took  their  stand,  and  the  State  rang 
from  end  to  end  and  side  to  side  with  their  eloquence. 

The  Republicans  had  resolved,  in  State  and  National 
Conventions,  to  stand  by  the  constituted  authorities  of 
the  country  in  their  efforts  to  uphold  the  character  of  the 
Government  and  maintain  the  Union,  and  as  an  evidence 
of  sincerity,  had  nominated  President  Lincoln  for  re-elec- 
tion, and  a General  of  the  Union  army  for  Governor,  on 
a platform  which  had  no  uncertain  sound  as  regarded  the 
prosecution  of  the  war.  Upon  these  broad  declarations 
the  gallant  Oglesby  and  patriotic  Moulton  boldly  met  their 
adversary,  and  routed  him  horse,  foot  and  dragoon.  The 
majority  for  the  Republican  State  ticket  was  81,675,  and 


164  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

for  the  National  ticket  30,676.  This  result  clearly  showed 
that  the  people,  irrespective  of  party  leaders,  were  in  favor 
of  sustaining  the  Union  by  a vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  the  State  officers,  Congressman- 
at-Large,  Congressmen  by  districts,  and  Presidential  elec- 
tors, is  as  follows : 

Governor.  . 

Richard  J.  Oglesby,  R 190,376 

James  C.  Robinson,  D 158,701 

Lieutenant-  Governor. 

William  Bross,  R 188,842 

S.  Corning  Judd,  D 158,244 

Secretary  of  State. 

Sharon  Tyndale,  R 190,154 

Wm.  A.  Turney,  D 158,833 

Auditor. 

0.  H.  Miner,  R 190,231 

John  Hise,  D..... 158,727 

Treasurer. 

James  H.  Beveridge,  R 190,199 

Alexander  Starne,  D 158,792 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Newton  Bateman,  R 190,280 

John  P.  Brooks,  D 158,777 

Congressman- at-Large. 

S.  W.  Moulton,  R 190,226 

J.  C.  Allen 158,784 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

John  Wentworth,  R 18,557 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick 14,277 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  R 18,298 

M.  C.  Johnson 5,237 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  165 

Thikd  District. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  B 15,711 

Elias  B.  Stiles 7,421 

Scattering 4 

Fourth  District. 

Abner  C.  Harding,  B ....  13,569 

Charles  M.  Harris 12,721 

Fifth  District. 

Eben  C.  Ingersoll,  B 18,152 

James  S.  Eekles 11,282 

Sixth  District. 

Burton  C.  Cook,  K 15,598 

Samuel  K.  Casey 9,980 

Seventh  District. 

H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,  B 15,368 

John  B.  Eden 12,027 

Eighth  District. 

Shelby  M.  Cullom,  B 15,812 

John  T.  Stuart.. 14,027 

Ninth  District. 

Lewis  W.  Boss,  D 15,296 

Hugh  Fullerton 12,239 

Tenth  District. 

Anthony  Thornton,  D 16,902 

N.  M.  Knapp 12,176 

Eleventh  Districx. 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D. 16,703 

Ethelbert  Callahan 10,696 

Twelfth  District. 

Jehu  Baker,  B 11,817 

Wm.  B.  Morrison 11,741 


166 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Thirteenth  District. 

Andrew  J.  Kuykendall,  R 11,742 

William  J.  Allen 10,759 

Milton  Bartley 57 

Presidential  Electors — Lincoln,  R. 

John  Dougherty 189,505 

Francis  A.  Hoffman 189,508 

Benjamin  M.  Prentiss 189,506 

John  Y.  Far  well 189,517 

Anson  S.  Miller 189,518 

John  Y.  Eustace 189,505 

James  S.  Poage 189,518 

John  I.  Bennett 189,519 

William  T.  Hopkins 189,517 

Franklin  Blades 189,518 

J.  C.  Conkling 189,517 

William  Walker 189,518 

Thomas  W.  Harris 189,518 

N.  M.  McCurdy 189,519 

Henry  S.  Baker 189,518 

Z.  S.  Clifford 189,521 

McClellan,  D. 

Chauncey  L.  Higbee 158,829 

Arno  Voss 158,519 

Nathan  S.  Davis 158,519 

Samuel  Ashton 158,726 

H.  T.  Helm 158,726 

William  Barge 158,726 

Henry  K.  Peffer 158,726 

John  T.  Lindsay 158,725 

Sherman  W.  Bowen 158,726 

Abram  L.  Keller 158,726 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson 158,726 

J.  C.  Thompson 158,726 

John  M.  Woodson 158,726 

H.  K.  S.  O’Melveney 158.726 

Thomas  Dimmock 158,726 

Cresa  K.  Davis 158,726 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


167 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


STATE  GOVERNMENT-1865. 


Governor — R.  J.  Oglesby. 

Lieutenant-Governor — William  Bross. 

Secretary  of  State — Sharon  Tyndale. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — 0.  H.  Miner. 

Treasurer — Jas.  H.  Beveridge. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 

Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly  convened  the  2d 
day  of  January,  and  consisted  of  the  following  members : 

Senate. 

Wm.  H.  Green,  Cairo.  James  Strain,  Monmouth. 
John  W.  Wescott,  Xenia.  A.  C.  Mason,  Galesburg. 
Daniel  Reily,  Kaskaskia.  John  T.  Lindsay,  Peoria. 
David  K.  Green,  Salem.  W.  Bushnell,  Ottawa, 

A.  W.  Metcalf,  Edwardsville.  A.  W.  Mack,  Kankakee. 

L.  E.  Worcester,  Whitehall.  E.  R.  Allen,  Aurora. 

H.  M.  Vandeveer,  Taylorville.  Daniel  Richard,  Sterling. 
Andrew  J.  Hunter,  Paris.  A.  Webster,  Rock  Island. 
Joseph  Peters,  Danville.  J.  H.  Addams,  Cedarville. 
Isaac  Funk,  Bloomington.  0.  Lansing,  Marengo. 

John  B.  Cohrs,  Pekin.  F.  A.  Eastman,  Chicago. 

M.  McConnel,  Jacksonville.  J.  D.  Ward,  Chicago. 

B.  T.  Schofield,  Carthage. 

House  op  Representatives. 

Henry  W.  Webb,  Cairo.  W.  H.  Logan,  Murphysboro. 
Wm.  A.  Looney,  Vienna.  Isaac  Miller,  Nashville. 

C.  Burnett,  Elizabethtown.  W.  K.  Murphy,  Pinckneyville 

D.  H.  Morgan,  Russellville.  Austin  James,  Michie. 

-John  Ward,  Benton.  S.  E.  Stephenson,  Salem. 


168 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Y.  S.  Benson,  McLeansboro.  John  L.  Tincher,  Danville. 
Thomas  Cooper,  Willow  Hill.  Solomon  L.  Spink,  Paris. 
Lewis  W.  Miller,  Olney.  Isaac  C.  Pugh,  Decatur. 

Geo.  H.  Deickman,  Yandalia.  Lewis  J.  Bond,  Monticello. 

J.  Shelby,  Maple  Grove.  C.  A.  Lake,  Kankakee. 
Nathaniel  Niles,  Belleville.  Charles  H.  Wood,  Onarga. 
John  Thomas,  Belleville.  A.  J.  McIntyre,  Wilmington. 
Julius  J.  Barnsback,  Troy.  Wm.  T.  Hopkins,  Morris. 

H.  Dresser,  Cottonwood  G’ve  Franklin  Corwin,  LaSalle. 

H.  B.  Decius,  Majority  Point.  John  Miller,  Freedom. 

Wm.  Middlesworth,  Windsor  Jason  W.  Strevell,  Pontiac. 
Elisha  E.  Barrett,  Butler.  Henry  D.  Cook,  Kappa. 
Ambrose  M.  Miller,  Lincoln.  G.  D.  Henderson,  Granville. 
James  W.  Patton,  Berlin.  Wm.  C.  Stacy,  Princeton. 
Sergeant  Gobble,  Scottsville.  Milton  M.  Ford,  Galva. 

John  McDonald,  Hardin.  Jos.  W.  Lloyd,  Edgington. 
Nathaniel  M.  Perry,  Kane.  Leander  Smith,  Fulton. 

J.  F.  Curtis,  Manchester.  0.  W.  Bryant,  Paw  Paw  Gr. 
Scott  Wike,  Pittsfield.  D.  J.  Pinckney,  Mt.  Morris. 
King  Kerley,  Mt.  Sterling.  Allen  C.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 
John  Hill,  Petersburg.  Ira  Y.  Randall,  DeKalb. 

J.  T.  Springer,  Jacksonville.  0.  C.  Johnson,  Kendall. 
Thomas  Redmond,  Quincy.  S.  S.  Mann,  Elgin. 

W.  T.  Yeargain,  Columbus.  E.  B.  Payne,  Waukegan. 
Wm.  H.  Neece,  Macomb.  M.  L.  Joslyn,  Woodstock. 
Joseph  Sharon,  Augusta.  Wm.  Brown,  Rockford. 

M.  M.  Morrill,  Nauvoo.  H.  C.  Burchard,  Freeport. 

J.  Simpson,  Oquawka.  John  D.  Platt,  Warren. 

Jas.  H.  Martin,  Monmouth.  Daniel  W.  Dame,  Lanark. 

J.  M.  Holyoke,  Wataga.  Henry  C.  Childs,  Wheaton.. 
L.  W.  James,  Lewiston.  N.  W.  Huntley,  Chicago. 

T.  M.  Morse,  Fairview.  Ansel  B.  Cook,  Chicago. 

Richard  C.  Dunn,  Toulon.  Wm.  Jackson,  Orland. 
Alexander  McCoy,  Peoria.  Ed.  S.  Isham,  Chicago. 

S.  R.  Saltonstall,  Tremont.  A.  H.  Dalton,  Hope. 
Harrison  Noble,  Heyworth.  A.  F.  Stephenson,  Chicago. 
John  Warner,  Clinton.  George  Strong,  Wheeling. 
Malden  Jones,  Tuscola. 

Lieutenant-Governor  Bross  was'  the  presiding  officer  of 
the  Senate,  and  John  F.  Nash,  of  LaSalle,  was  elected 
Secretary,  over  Maning  Mayfield,  of  Massac,  by  a vote 
of  14  to  8. 

Allen  C.  Fuller,  of  Boone,  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  over  Ambrose  M.  Miller,  of  Logan,  by  a vote  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


169 


48  to  28,  and  Walter  S.  Frazier,  of  Cook,  Clerk,  over  John 
Q.  Harmon,  of  Alexander,  by  a vote  of  50  to  21. 

Those  of  the  new  members  of  this  body  who  were  able 
and  active,  were : D.  K.  Green,  Metcalf,  Cohrs,  Lindsay, 
Bushnell,  Ward,  Webb,  Burnett,  Murphy,  Corwin,  Ford, 
Joslyn. 

Bichard  Yates,  the  retiring  Governor,  presented  his  mes- 
sage to  the  two  houses  on  the  3d.  One  of  his  special 
recommendations  was  the  repeal  of  the  “black  laws”.  An 
elaborate  statement  was  given  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the 
State  in  general,  and  notwithstanding  the  Nation  had  passed 
through  a long  and  expensive  war,  it  was  shown  that 
Illinois  had  continued  to  advance  in  prosperity,  and  that 
for  the  four  years  ending  December,  1864,  the  State  debt 
had  been  reduced  $987,786.23. 

Bichard  Yates  was  known  as  one  of  the  war  Governors, 
and  all  his  energy  and  ability  were  directed  in  saving  the 
Union.  He  was  truly  a great  and  sagacious  man.  When 
the  tocsin  of  war  was  sounded  he  was  prompt  in  respond- 
ing to  the  call  of  the  National  Government  for  troops,  to 
aid  in  putting  down  the  rebellion;  he  had  the  moral 
courage  to  do  that  which  would  best  serve  the  Nation  in 
its  efforts  to  preserve  its  own  life ; he  laid  aside  his  party 
predilections,  and  labored  and  thought  only  of  saving  the 
Union  intact;  he  comprehended  the  magnitude  of  the  re- 
bellion at  once,  and  was  early  in  advising  President 
Lincoln  as  to  the  policy  of  declaring  the  slaves  free,  and 
allowing  them  to  fight  in  defense  of  the  flag  that  was  to 
protect  them  in  their  liberty.  He  retired  from  the  office 
with  the  love  and  admiration  of  his  countrymen. 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  January  4,  and 
elected  Bichard  Yates  United  States  Senator,  over  James 
C.  Bobinson,  by  a vote  of  64  to  43. 

The  assembly  met  in  joint  session  on  the  16th,  when 
the  incoming  Governor,  B.  J.  Oglesby,  was  inaugurated. 


170 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  his  message  read.  He  referred  in  appropriate  terms 
to  the  conflict  through  which  the  country  was  passing; 
invited  special  attention  to  the  recommendations  in  the 
message  of  his  predecessor ; he  urged  strict  economy  in  every 
department ; he  recommended  that  action  be  taken  for  the 
disposition  and  utilization  of  the  grant  of  land,  donated 
by  Congress  in  1862,  to  the  State  for  college  purposes; 
he  recommended  that  a law  be  passed  allowing  the  soldiers 
in  the  field  to  vote ; he  recommended  to  the  care  and  at- 
tention of  the  General  Assembly  the  vast  multitude  of 
helpless  orphans  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  protection 
of  kind  fathers,  who  had  given  their  lives  to  the  country ; 
he  urged  the  adoption  of  the  18th  amendment  to  the  Na- 
tional Constitution,  abolishing  slavery. 

The  duration  of  the  session  was  just  forty-five  days. 
Among  the  public  laws  enacted  was  a law  requiring  the 
holders  of  the  so-called  Macallister  and  Stebbins  bonds 
to  surrender  the  same  by  July  1st,  1865,  under  certain 
penalties,  or  by  January  1st,  1866,  under  other  and  heavier 
penalties;  $3,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  the  proportion  of  the  State  in  furnishing  the  Sol- 
diers’ National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg;  an  act  was  passed 
to  establish  a home  for  the  children  of  deceased  soldiers, 
(this  was  the  foundation  of  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home, 
at  Normal) ; $25,000  was  appropriated  to  purchase  the 
tract  of  land  on  which  reposed  the  remains  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas;  an  experimental  school  for  the  instruction 
and  training  of  idiots  and  feeble-minded  children  was  au- 
thorized, and  the  sum  of  $5,000,  annually,  was  appro- 
priated for  that  purpose.  From  this  humble  beginning 
has  grown  the  Feeble-Minded  Institute  now  in  successful 
operation  at  Lincoln.  The  “black  laws”  were  repealed  at 
this  session,  and  the  13th  amendment  to  the  National 
Constitution,  abolishing  slavery,  was  ratified. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


171 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ILLINOIS  AND  THE  WAR. 


Prompt  Response  to  the  Call  for  Soldiers  to  Put  Down  the  Rebellion— 
Number  of  Soldiers  Furnished,  by  Counties— Allen  C.  Fuller. 


We  pass  briefly  over  the  part  Illinois  took  in  the  great 
war  to  preserve  the  Union,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
deeds  of  her  brave  soldiers  and  their  gallant  leaders  are 
already  a part  of  the  history  of  both  the  State  and  Nation. 
No  history,  whether  National  or  Confederate,  has  been 
written  since  that  unfortunate  conflict  which  does  not  con- 
lain  honorable  mention  of  their  gallant  deeds  upon  many 
hotly  contested  battlefields;  while  the  carefully  prepared 
official  reports  of  Adjutant- Generals  Mather,  Fuller  and 
Haynie,  give  the  name  and  rank  of  every  soldier  from 
Illinois,  who  took  part  in  that  war.  But,  better  than  all, 
the  memory  of  their  heroic  patriotism  is  indelibly  stamped 
upon  the  hearts  of  our  people ; and  only  when  the  cycles 
of  time  cease,  will  it  be  forgotten. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  one  day  after  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Sumter,  President  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation 
calling  for  75,000  volunteer  soldiers  to  repossess  and  pre- 
serve the  property  of  the  Nation.  Jefferson  Davis,  Presi- 
dent of  the  so-called  Confederate  Government,  also  issued 
a proclamation  calling  his  people  to  arms,  and  the  issue 
of  war  between  the  two  sections  was  distinctly  made. 
Under  the  call  of  President  Lincoln,  the  quota  of  Illinois 
was  6,000  men.  Governor  Yates  was  quick  to  issue  his 


172  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

proclamation  convening  the  Legislature,  to  provide  such 
measures  as  were  necessary  to  fill  the  call  and  put  the 
State  upon  a war  footing.  In  ten  days  thereafter  the 
quota  of  Illinois  was  filled,  and  more  than  a million  dol- 
lars tendered  the  Governor  by  the  capitalists  of  the  State 
to  aid  in  the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  Union; 
and  while  it  is  true  that  there  was  a division  of  sentiment 
among  the  parties  political,  regarding  the  policy  of  the 
Government  and  the  means  employed  to  overcome  the 
rebellion  and  preserve  the  Union,  yet  Illinois  never  fal- 
tered in  responding  to  the  calls  of  the  Nation  in  that  great 
emergency. 


Number  of  Soldiers  Furnished. 

We  here  present  the  reader  with  an  authentic  statement 
as  to  the  number  of  soldiers  furnished  by  Illinois  in  the- 
war,  by  counties,  as  shown  by  the  official  records  in  the 
Adjutant-General’s  office : 

Adams,  5178 ; Alexander,  1858 ; Bond,  1148 ; Boone,  1337 ; 
Brown,  1215 ; Bureau,  3626 ; Calhoun,  528 ; Carroll,  1498 ; 
Cass,  1312;  Champaign,  2276;  Christian,  1369;  Clark,. 
1560;  Clay,  1482;  Clinton,  1332;  Coles,  2741;  . Cook,  22,436; 
Crawford,  1323 ; Cumberland,  920 ; DeKalb,  2391 ; DeWitt, 
1522;  Douglas,  1175;  DuPage,  1524;  Edgar,  2312;  Ed- 
wards, 625;  Effingham,  1202;  Fayette,  1629;  Ford,  271; 
Franklin,  1241;  Fulton,  3739;  Gallatin,  1362;  Greene, 
1940;  Grundy,  1343;  Hamilton,  1226;  Hancock,  3272; 
Hardin,  569 ; Henderson,  1330 ; Henry,  3077 ; Iroquois,. 
1769;  Jackson,  1422;  Jasper,  948;  Jefferson,  1330;  Jersey, 
1229;  Jo  Daviess,  2513;  Johnson,  1426;  Kane,  3873 ; Kan. 
kakee,  1764 ; Kendall,  1551 ; Knox,  3837 ; Lake,  1890 ; La- 
Salle, 5942 ; Lawrence,  1230 ; Lee,  2446 ; Livingston,  1743 ; 
Logan,  2160;  Macon,  2189;  Macoupin,  3184;  Madison, 
4221;  Marion,  1954;  Marshall,  1779;  Mason,  1531;  Mas- 
sac, 880;  McDonough,  2734;  McHenry,  2533;  McLean,. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


178 


4849 ; Menard,  1225 ; Mercer,  1848 ; Monroe,  1227 ; Mont- 
gomery, 1620;  Morgan,  2732;  Moultrie,  773;  Ogle,  2953; 
Peoria,  4907 ; Perry,  1468 ; Piatt,  1055 ; Pike,  3132 ; Pope, 
1253;  Pulaski,  643;  Putnam,  707;  Randolph,  2099;  Rich- 
land, 1577;  Rock  Island,  2473;  Saline,  1280;  Sangamon, 
5010;  Schuyler,  1570;  Scott,  1212;  Shelby,  2070;  Stark, 
1084;  St.  Clair,  4396;  Stephenson,  3168;  Tazewell,  2700; 
Union,  1846;  Vermilion,  2596;  Wabash,  707;  Warren, 
2455;  Washington,  1744;  Wayne,  1613;  White,  1984; 
Whiteside,  2535;  Will,  3696;  Williamson,  1575;  Winne- 
bago, 3187 ; Woodford,  1643. 

The  total  number  was  256,297,  being  apportioned  among 
two  regiments  of  artillery,  seventeen  cavalry,  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine  infantry. 

The  grand  total  of  Illinois  soldiers  who  gave  their  lives 
in  defence  of  their  country’s  flag,  as  recorded  in  the  Ad- 
jutant-General’s office,  is  28,842,  but  who  can  tell  how 
many  since  the  close  of  that  never-to-be-forgotten  struggle, 
have  gone  to  their  eternal  rest. 

Allen  C.  Fuller. 

Among  the  many  men  who  served  the  State  with  dis- 
tinction during  the  war,  deserving  special  mention  in 
this  connection,  is  Gen.  Allen  C.  Fuller,  who  occupied 
a seat  upon  the  bench  in  the  thirteenth  circuit,  in  1861, 
when  he  was  tendered  the  appointment  of  Adjutant- 
General.  His  high  character  as  a man,  and  his  splen- 
did executive  ability,  soon  won  for  him  the  confidence 
and  admiration  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
and  to  his  sagacity  and  untiring  energy  was  the  State 
indebted  to  a very  large  degree  for  the  proud  position  she 
attained  during  the  rebellion  for  promptness  in  organizing 
and  arming  her  soldiers.  A committee  of  the  General 
Assembly  which  had  been  appointed  to  examine  his  office, 
was  unanimous  in  praise  of  its  management.  We  make 
the  following  extract  from  that  report : 


174 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ That  we  have  thoroughly  examined  the  office  of  the 
Adjutant- General  and  find  it  a model  in  completeness ; 
one  that  preserves  in  all  its  glory  the  proud  records  of 
our  soldiery,  and  reflects  infinite  credit  upon  the  great 
State  whose  sons  they  are. 

“That  in  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  the  thanks 
of  every  patriot  citizen  of  the  State  are  due  to  Gen.  Fuller 
for  the  able  and  efficient  manner  in  which  he  has  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  the  office,  and  for  his  indefatigable 
efforts  in  collecting  and  preserving  this  glorious  record  of 
a glorious  State.” 

Gov.  Yates  was  equally  complimentary  in  his  biennial 
messages  regarding  the  services  of  Gen.  Fuller,  and  ac- 
knowledged himself  deeply  indebted  to  him  for  his  hearty 
co-operation  and  able  management  of  the  military  affairs 
of  the  State.  In  1864  Gen.  Fuller  was  elected  Representa- 
tive  in  the  Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly,  and  resign- 
ing the  office  of  Adjutant-General,  was  elected  Speaker  of 
that  body,  and  so  able  and  impartial  was  he  as  a presid- 
ing officer  that  a resolution  heartily  thanking  him  for 
“ the  kind,  courteous,  able  and  impartial  manner  in  which 
he  had  presided  over  them,”  was  adopted  by  a unani- 
mous vote. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

JOHN  A,  LOGAN. 


A Slander  Refuted— Declination  to  Become  a Candidate  for  Congressman- 
at-Large  in  1862— Patriotic  Address  to  His  Command  in  1863— When 
McPherson  Fell— Sherman’s  Official  Account  of  Logan’s  Gallantry. 


It  has  not  been  our  purpose  to  use  these  pages  for  ex- 
tolling the  deeds  of  the  men  who  took  part  in  the  great 
civil  war,  one  above  another,  but  it  is  due  our  readers 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


175 


that  we  should  put  into  history  a true  statement  regard- 
ing the  position  occupied  by  Gen.  John  A.  Logan  at  the 
time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  misunderstood  by  many  persons  who  are  entitled 
to  know  the  facts  as  they  exist,  and  for  the  further  reason 
that  the  calumny  so  often  uttered  against  him,  should  not 
go  down  to  posterity  without  an  unqualified  denial.  The 
substance  of  all  the  charges  is,  that  he  was  disloyal  to 
the  Government  when  the  war  began,  and  that  he  had 
aided  in  recruiting  soldiers  in  Illinois  for  the  Southern 
army ; yet  among  all  who  have  made  these  charges,  from 
first  to  last,  no  man  of  character  or  personal  responsi- 
bility has  dared  to  come  forward  and  make  a specific 
charge  or  father  one. 

It  is  said  that  Logan  did  not  approve  the  great  speech 
made  by  Senator  Douglas,  at  Springfield,  in  April,  1861, 
wherein  he  took  the  bold  ground  that  in  the  contest  which 
was  then  clearly  imminent  to  him,  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  that  there  could  be  but  two  parties,  patriots  and 
traitors.  But,  granting  that  there  was  a difference  between 
Douglas  and  Logan  at  that  time,  it  did  not  relate  to  their 
adhesion  to  the  cause  of  their  country.  Logan  had  fought 
for  the  Union  upon  the  plains  of  Mexico,  and  again  stood 
ready  to  give  his  life,  if  need  be,  for  his  country,  even 
amid  the  cowardly  slanders  that  were  then  following  his 
pathway.  The  difference  between  Douglas  and  Logan  was 
this : Mr.  Douglas  was  fresh  from  an  extended  campaign 
in  the  dissatisfied  sections  of  the  Southern  States,  and  he 
was  fully  apprised  of  their  intention  to  attempt  the  over- 
throw of  the  Union,  and  was  therefore  in  favor  of  the 
most  stupendous  preparations  for  war.  Mr.  Logan,  on 
the  other  hand,  believed  in  exhausting  all  peaceable  means 
before  a resort  to  arms,  and  in  this  he  was  like  President 
Lincoln ; but  when  he  saw  there  was  no  other  alternative 
but  to  fight,  he  was  ready  and  willing  for  armed  resistance, 


176 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ftnd,  resigning  his  seat  in  Congress,  entered  the  army  as 
Colonel  of  the  Thirty-first  Illinois  Infantry,  and  remained 
in  the  field  in  active  service  until  peace  was  declared. 

In  support  of  the  declaration  that  there  is  no  founda- 
tion in  fact  for  the  charge  of  disloyalty  against  Gen. 
Logan,  we  have  only  to  refer  briefly  to  his  conduct  as  a 
soldier  while  the  war  was  waged,  and  to  his  utterances, 
which  were  never  doubtful  in  meaning.  Whatever  may  be 
the  belief  of  his  enemies  to  the  contrary,  his  acts  must 
forever  silence  the  slander,  but  his  maligners  may  never 
be  able  to  distinguish  between  a desire  to  settle  the  differ- 
ences between  the  North  and  the  South  without  a resort 
to  arms,  and  overt  treason  to  the  Government,  and  we 
shall  not  attempt  to  make  them  understand  it,  for  there 
are  none  so  blind  as  those  who  can  see  but  will  not. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  when  the  Union  Republicans 
and  war  Democrats  were  anxious  for  Gen.  Logan  to  return 
home  and  make  the  race  for  Congress  from  the  State-at- 
large,  he  addressed,  under  date  of  August  26,  a patriotic 
letter  to  0.  M.  Hatch,  Secretary  of  State,  declining  the 
honor.  From  it  we  extract  this  passage: 

“I  am  to-day  a soldier  of  this  Republic,  so  to  remain, 
changeless  and  immutable,  until  her  last  and  weakest 
enemy  shall  have  expired  and  passed  away.  Ambitious 
men,  who  have  not  a true  love  for  their  country  at  heart, 
may  bring  forth  crude  and  bootless  questions  to  agitate 
the  pulse  of  our  troubled  Nation  and  thwart  the  preserva- 
tion of  this  Union,  but  for  none  of  such  am  I.  I have 
entered  the  field  to  die,  if  needs  be,  for  this  Government, 
and  never  expect  to  return  to  peaceful  pursuits  until  the 
object  of  this  war  for  preservation  has  become  a fact 
established.” 

In  view  of  the  extraordinary  position  assumed  by  the 
Twenty-third  General  Assembly  in  regard  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war,  Gen.  Logan  issued  a stirring  address 
while  at  Memphis,  Tennessee,  under  date  of  February  12? 
1863,  to  the  soldiers  under  his  command,  from  which  we 
make  the  following  extract: 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


177 


“I  am  aware  that  influences  of  the  most  discouraging 
and  treasonable  character,  well  calculated  and  designed 
to  render  you  dissatisfied,  have  recently  been  brought  to 
bear  upon  some  of  you  by  professed  friends.  Newspapers, 
containing  treasonable  articles,  artfully  falsifying  the  pub- 
lic sentiment  at  your  homes,  have  been  circulated  in  your 
camps.  Intriguing  political  tricksters,  demagogues  and 
time-servers,  whose  corrupt  deeds  are  but  a faint  reflex 
of  their  more  corrupt  hearts,  seem  determined  to  drive 
our  people  on  to  anarchy  and  destruction.  They  have 
hoped,  by  magnifying  the  reverses  of  our  arms,  basely 
misrepresenting  the  conduct  and  slandering  the  character 
of  our  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  boldly  denouncing  the  acts 
of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Government  as  uncon- 
stitutional usurpations,  to  produce  general  demoralization 
in  the  army,  and  thereby  reap  their  political  reward,  weaken 
the  cause  we  have  espoused,  and  aid  those  arch  traitors 
of  the  South  to  dismember  our  mighty  Republic,  and  trail 
in  the  dust  the  emblem  of  our  National  unity,  greatness 
and  glory.  Let  me  remind  you,  my  countrymen,  that  we 
are  soldiers  of  the  Federal  Union,  armed  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  the  maintenance 
of  its  laws  and  authority.  Upon  your  faithfulness  and 
devotion,  heroism  and  gallantry,  depend  its  perpetuity. 
To  us  has  been  committed  this  sacred  inheritance,  baptized 
in  the  blood  of  our  fathers.  We  are  soldiers  of  a Govern- 
ment that  has  always  blessed  us  with  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness. 

“It  has  given  to  every  American  citizen  the  largest 
freedom  and  the  most  perfect  equality  of  rights  and  privi- 
leges. It  has  afforded  us  security  in  person  and  property, 
and  blessed  us  until,  under  its  beneficent  influence,  we 
were  the  proudest  Nation  on  earth. 

“We  should  be  united  in  our  efforts  to  put  down  a re- 
bellion that  now,  like  an  earthquake,  rocks  the  Nation 
from  State  to  State,  from  center  to  circumference,  and 
threatens  to  engulf  us  all  in  one  common  ruin,  the  horrors 
of  which  no  pen  can  portray.  We  have  solemnly  sworn 
to  bear  true  faith  to  this  Government,  preserve  its  Con- 
stitution, and  defend  its  glorious  flag  against  all  its  ene- 
mies and  opposers.  To  our  hands  has  been  committed 
the  liberties,  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  future  gen- 
erations. Shall  we  betray  such  a trust  ? Shall  the  brilliancy 
of  your  past  achievements  be  dimmed  and  tarnished  by 
hesitation,  discord  and  dissension,  whilst  armed  traitors 


178 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


menace  you  in  front,  and  unarmed  traitors  intrigue  against 
you  in  the  rear?  We  are  in  no  way  responsible  for  any 
action  of  the  civil  authorities.  We  constitute  the  military 
arm  of  the  Government.  That  the  civil  power  is  threat- 
ened and  attempted  to  be  paralyzed,  is  the  reason  for 
resort  to  the  military  power.  To  aid  the  civil  authorities 
(not  to  oppose  or  obstruct)  in  the  exercise  of  their  author- 
ity is  our  office;  and  shall  we  forget  this  duty,  and  stop 
to  wrangle  and  dispute,  while  the  country  is  bleeding  at 
every  pore,  on  this  or  that  political  act  or  measure,  whilst 
a fearful  wail  of  anguish,  wrung  from  the  heart  of  a dis- 
tracted people,  is  borne  upon  every  breeze,  and  widows 
and  orphans  are  appealing  to  us  to  avenge  the  loss  of 
their  loved  ones  who  have  fallen  by  our  side  in  defence 
of  its  old  blood-stained  banner,  and  whilst  the  Temple  of 
Liberty  itself  is  being  shaken  to  the  very  center  by  the 
ruthless  blows  of  traitors  who  have  desecrated  our  flag, 
obstructed  our  National  highways,  destroyed  our  peace, 
desolated  our  firesides,  and  draped  thousands  of  our  homes 
in  mourning? 

“Let  us  stand  firm  at  our  posts  of  duty  and  honor, 
yielding  a cheerful  obedience  to  all  orders  from  our  supe- 
riors, until,  by  our  united  efforts,  the  stars  and  stripes 
shall  be  planted  in  every  city,  town  and  hamlet  of  the 
rebellious  States.  We  can  then  return  to  our  homes  and 
through  the  ballot-box  peaceably  redress  all  our  wrongs, 
if  any  we  have.” 

It  required  more  courage  to  write  this  address  than  it 
did  to  fight  a battle,  for  there  was  then  great  opposition 
all  over  the  North  to  the  liberation  of  * the  slaves ; even 
among  distinguished  Republicans  grave  doubts  were  enter- 
tained as  to  the  policy  of  emancipation,  and  the  former 
* declarations  of  President  Lincoln  show  conclusively  that 
he  issued  the  proclamation  with  reluctance. 

But  the  best  test  of  General  Logan’s  love  of  country 
or  patriotism  was  after  the  battle  before  Atlanta,  on  the 
22d  of  July,  1864,  where  General  McPherson  was  killed. 
General  Sherman,  in  his  report  of  this  battle,  says : 

“Not  more  than  half  an  hour  after  General  McPherson 
had  left  me,  viz:  about  12:30  p.  m.,  of  the  22d,  his  Ad- 
jutant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel  Clark,  rode  up  and 
reported  that  General  McPherson  was  either  dead  or  a 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


179 


prisoner ; that  he  had  ridden  from  me  to  General  Dodge’s 
column,  moving  as  heretofore  described,  and  had  sent  off 
nearly  all  his  staff  and  orderlies  on  various  errands,  and 
himself  had  passed  into  a narrow  path  or  road  that  led 
to  the  left  and  rear  of  General  Giles  A.  Smith’s  division, 
which  was  General  Blair’s  extreme  left;  that  a few  min- 
utes after  he  had  entered  the  woods  a sharp  volley  was 
heard  in  that  direction,  and  his  horse  had  come  out 
riderless,  having  two  wounds.  The  suddenness  of  this  ter- 
rible calamity  would  have  overwhelmed  me  with  grief, 
but  the  living  demanded  my  whole  thoughts.  I instantly 
despatched  a staff  officer  to  General  John  A.  Logan,  com- 
manding the  15th  corps,  to  tell  him  what  had  happened ; 
that  he  must  assume  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, and  hold,  stubbornly,  the  ground  already  chosen, 
more  especially  the  hill  gained  by  General  Leggett  the 

night  before 

About  4 p.  m.  there  was  quite  a lull,  during  which  the 
enemy  fell  forward  on  the  railroad  and  main  Decatur 
road,  and  suddenly  assailed  a regiment  which,  with  a 
section  of  guns,  had  been  thrown  forward  as  a kind  of 
picket,  and  captured  the  two  guns;  he  then  advanced 
rapidly  and  broke  through  our  lines  at  that  point,  which 
had  been  materially  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  Colo- 
nel Martin’s  brigade,  sent  by  General  Logan’s  order  to 
the  extreme  left.  The  other  brigade,  General  Lightburn, 
which  held  this  part  of  the  line,  fell  back  in  some  disor- 
der, about  four  hundred  yards,  to  a position  held  by  it 
the  night  before,  leaving  the  enemy  for  a time  in  posses- 
sion of  two  batteries,  one  of  which,  a 20-pounder  Parrott 
battery  of  four  guns,  was  most  valuable  to  us,  and  sepa- 
rating General  Wood’s  and  General  Harrow’s  divisions  of 
the  15th  corps,  that  were  on  the  right  and  left  of  the 
railroad.  Being  in  person  close  by  the  spot,  and  appre- 
ciating the  vast  importance  of  the  connection  at  that  point, 
I ordered  certain  batteries  of  General  Schofield  to  be 
moved  to  a position  somewhat  commanding,  by  a left 
flank  fire,  and  ordered  an  incessant  fire  of  shells  on  the 
enemy  within  sight,  and  the  woods  beyond,  to  prevent  his 
reinforcing.  I also  sent  orders  to  General  Logan,  which 
he  had  already  anticipated,  to  make  the  15th  corps  regain 
its  lost  ground  at  any  cost,  and  instructed  General  Woods, 
supported  by  General  Schofield,  to  use  his  division  and 
sweep  the  parapet  down  from  where  he  held  it  until  he 
saved  the  batteries  and  recovered  the  lost  ground.  The 
whole  was  executed  in  superb  style,  at  times  our  men  and 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  enemy  fighting  across  the  narrow  parapet,  but  at  last 
the  enemy  gave  way  and  the  15th  corps  regained  its  po- 
sition and  all  the  guns  except  the  two  advanced  ones 
which  were  out  of  view,  and  had  been  removed  by  the 
enemy  within  his  main  work.  With  this  terminated  the 
battle  of  the  22d,  which  cost  us  3,722  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners. 

“But  among  the  dead  was  Major-General  McPherson, 
whose  body  was  recovered  and  brought  to  me  in  the  heat 
of  the  battle,  and  I had  it  sent,  in  charge  of  his  personal 
staff,  back  to  Marietta,  on  its  way  to  his  Northern  home. 
He  was  a noble  youth,  of  striking  personal  appearance, 
of  the  highest  professional  capacity,  and  with  a heart 
abounding  in  kindness,  that  drew  to  him  the  affections  of 
all  men.  His  sudden  death  devolved  the  command  of  the 
army  on  the  no  less  brave  and  gallant  General  Logan, 
who  nobly  sustained  his  reputation  and  that  of  his  vete- 
ran army,  and  avenged  the  death  of  his  comrade  and 
commander.  The  enemy  left  on  the  field  his  dead  and 
wounded,  and  about  a thousand  well  prisoners.  His  dead 
alone  are  computed  by  General  Logan  at  3,240,  of  which 
number  2,200  were  from  actual  count,  and  of  these  he 
delivered  to  the  enemy,  under  a flag  of  truce,  sent  in  by 
him  (the  enemy)  800  bodies.  I entertain  no  doubt  that  in 
the  battle  of  July  22d,  the  enemy  sustained  an  aggregate 
loss  of  full  8,000  men.” 

This  was  one  of  the  greatest  battles  of  the  war,  and  it 
was  won-  by  General  Logan,  as  General  Sherman  himself 
attests,  and  according  to  the  usages  of  war  he  was  enti- 
tled to  command  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  but  General 
Sherman,  estimating  him  as  only  a General  of  volunteers, 
pushed  him  aside  and  gave  the  command  to  General  How- 
ard, an  officer  of  the  regular  army.  Other  Generals  have 
resigned  their  commands  in  the  very  face  of  the  enemy 
with  far  less  provocation  than  this,  but  General  Logan, 
true  to  the  vow  he  had  taken,  never  wavered  in  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  his  country,  nor  did  he  resign  his  position 
until  he  had  seen  the  stars  and  stripes  triumphantly  un- 
furled over  every  capitol  of  every  Confederate  State. 

We  have  taken  occasion  to  make  this  defense  in  this 
broad  and  unequivocal  manner  because  we  were  then  a 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  181 

citizen  of  the  section  of  the  State  in  which  General  Logan 
resided,  and  because  of  our  personal  knowledge  of  all  his 
movements  at  that  time,  and  because,  as  yet,  no  historian 
has  given  the  charges  the  denial  their  gravity  demands; 
and  because,  further,  it  is  due  him  and  his  family,  and  his 
children  who  are  to  live  after  him. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 


An  account  of  his  early  manhood  as  written  by  himself— Speech  at  Philadel- 
phia-First Inaugural— Speech  at  Gettysburg— Kentucky  Letter— Second 
Inaugural— Last  Speech— Assassination— How  Lincoln  came  to  Challenge 
Douglas— Never  an  Abolitionist— “I  have  never  kept  liquor  in  my  house 
and  will  not  begin  now”— A One-Idea  Court. 


The  subject  of  this  chapter  was,  perhaps,  the  most  re- 
markable man  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  while 
his  life  has  been  written  times  without  number,  yet  we  feel 
that  this  volume  is  the  place  in  which  should  be  preserved 
some  of  his  most  gifted  official  utterances,  together  with 
a brief  statement  of  his  early  life  and  tragic  death. 

We  begin  with  an  account  of  his  birth  and  early  man- 
hood, as  written  by  himself  to  his  personal  friend,  Jesse 
W.  Fell,  of  Normal.  It  is  a literal  copy,  being  taken  from 
the  original. 

“I  was  born  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  county,  Ky. 
My  parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia  of  undistinguished 
families — second  families,  perhaps  I should  say.  My 
mother,  who  died  in  my  tenth  year;  was  of  a family  of 
the  name  of  Hanks,  some  of  whom  now  reside  in  Adams, 
and  others  in  Macon  counties,  Illinois.  My  paternal  grand- 
father, Abraham  Lincoln,  emigrated  from  Rockingham 


182 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


county,  Virginia,  to  Kentucky,  about  1781  or  1782,  where, 
a year  or  two  later,  he  was  killed  by  Indians — not  in  bat- 
tle, but  by  stealth — when  he  was  laboring  to  open  a farm 
in  the  forest.  His  ancestors,  who  were  Quakers,  went  to 
Virginia  from  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania.  An  effort  to 
identify  them  with  the  New  England  family  of  the  same 
name  ended  in  nothing  more  definite  than  a similarity  of 
Christian  names  in  both  families,  such  as  Enoch,  Levi, 
Mordecai,  Solomon,  Abraham,  and  the  like.  My  father, 
at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  6 years  of  age,  and 
he  grew  up  literally  without  any  education.  He  removed 
from  Kentucky  to  what  is  now  Spencer  county,  Indiana, 
in  my  8th  year.  We  reached  our  new  home  about  the 
time  the  State  came  into  the  Union.  It  was  a wild  re- 
gion, with  many  bears  and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the 
woods.  There  I grew  up.  There  were  some  schools,  so- 
called,  but  no  qualification  was  ever  required  of  a teacher 
beyond  leadin’,  writin,’  and  cipherin’’  to  the  rule  of  three. 
If  a straggler,  supposed  to  understand  Latin,  happened 
to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as  a 
wizard.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition 
for  education.  Of  course,  when  I came  of  age,  I did  not 
know  much.  Still,  somehow,  I could  read,  write,  and  cipher 
to  the  rule  of  three,  but  that  was  all.  I have  not  been 
to  school  since.  The  little  advance  I now  have  upon  this 
store  of  education  1 have  picked  up  from  time  to  time 
under  the  pressure  of  necessity.  I was  raised  to  farm 
work,  which  I continued  till  I was  22.  At  21  I came  to 
Illinois,  and  passed  the  first  year  in  Macon  county.  Then 
I got  to  New  Salem,  at  that  time  in  Sangamon,  now  in 
Menard,  county,  where  I remained  a year  as  a sort  of 
clerk  in  a store.  Then  came  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and 
I was  elected  a captain  of  volunteers — a success  which 
gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  I have  had  since.  I 
went  into  the  campaign,  was  elected ; ran  for  the  Legisla- 
ture the  same  year  (1832)  and  was  beaten — the  only  time 
I ever  have  been  beaten  by  the  people.  The  next  and 
three  succeeding  biennial  elections  I was  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature. I was  not  a candidate  afterwards.  During  this  Legis- 
lative period  I had  studied  law  and  removed  to  Springfield  to 
practice  it.  In  1846, 1 was  elected  to  the  lower  house  of  Con- 
gress. Was  not  a candidate  for  re-election.  From  1849 
to  1854,  both  inclusive,  practiced  law  more  assiduously 
than  before.  Always  a Whig  in  politics,  and  generally  on 
the  Whig  electoral  ticket,  making  active  canvasses.  I was 
losing  interest  in  politics,  when  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


183 


Compromise  aroused  me  again.  What  I have  done  since 
then  is  pretty  well  known.  If  any  personal  description  of 
me  is  thought  desirable,  it  may  be  said  I am  in  height 
6 feet,  4 inches  nearly,  lean  in  flesh,  weighing,  on  an 
average,  180  pounds,  dark  complexion,  with  coarse  black 
hair  and  gray  eyes.  No  other  marks  or  brands  recol- 
lected.” 

“Yours  very  truly, 

“A.  Lincoln.” 

"Hon.  J.  W.  Fell.” 


Speech  at  Philadelphia. 

On  his  way  to  Washington  to  assume  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Lincoln  stopped  a day  at  Philadelphia,  and,  in 
response  to  an  address  of  welcome  by  the  Mayor,  he  spoke 
as  follows: 

“ Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow-citizens  of  Philadelphia:  I ap- 
pear before  you  to  make  no  lengthy  speech,  but  to  thank 
you  for  this  reception.  The  reception  you  have  given  me 
to-night  is  not  to  me,  the  man,  the  individual,  but  to  the 
man  who  temporarily  represents,  or  should  represent,  the 
majesty  of  the  Nation.  It  is  true,  as  your  worthy  Mayor 
has  said,  that  there  is  anxiety  amongst  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  at  this  time.  I deem  it  a happy  cir- 
cumstance that  this  dissatisfied  position  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  does  not  point  us  to  anything  in  which  they  are 
being  injured,  or  about  to  be  injured,  for  which  reason 
1 have  felt  all  the  while  justified  in  concluding  that 
the  crisis,  the  panic,  the  anxiety  of  the  country  at 
this  time  is  artificial.  If  there  be  those  who  differ 
with  me  upon  this  subject,  they  have  not  pointed  out 
the  substantial  difficulty  that  exists.  I do  not  mean 
to  say  that  an  artificial  panic  may  not  do  considera- 
ble harm ; that  it  has  done  such  I do  not  deny.  The 
hope  that  has  been  expressed  by  your  Mayor,  that  I may 
be  able  to  restore  peace,  harmony,  and  prosperity  to  the 
country,  is  most  worthy  of  him;  and  happy,  indeed,  will 
I be  if  I shall  be  able  to  verify  and  fulfill  that  hope.  I 
promise  you,  in  all  sincerity,  that  I bring  to  the  work  a 
sincere  heart.  Whether  I will  bring  a head  equal  to  that 
heart  will  be  for  future  times  to  determine.  It  were  use- 
less for  me  to  speak  of  details  of  plans  now ; I shall  speak 
officially  next  Monday  week,  if  ever.  If  I should  not 
speak  then  it  w^ere  useless  for  me  to  do  so  now.  When 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


I do  speak  I shall  take  such  ground  as  I deem  best  cal- 
culated to  restore  peace,  harmony,  and  prosperity  to  the 
country,  and  tend  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Nation  and 
the  liberty  of  these  States  and  these  people.  Your  worthy 
Mayor  has  expressed  the  wish,  in  which  I join  with  him, 
that  it  were  convenient  for  me  to  remain  in  your  city 
long  enough  to  consult  your  merchants  and  manufactur- 
ers ; or,  as  it  were,  to  listen  to  those  breathings  rising 
within  the  consecrated  walls  wherein  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  I will  add,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  were  originally  framed  and  adopted.  I 
assure  you  and  your  Mayor  that  I had  hoped,  on  this 
occasion,  and  upon  all  occasions  during  my  life,  that  I 
shall  do  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  teachings  of  these 
holy  and  most  sacred  walls.  I never  asked  anything  that 
does  not  breathe  from  these  walls.  All  my  political  war- 
fare has  been  in  favor  of  the  teachings  that  came  forth 
from  these  sacred  walls.  'May  my  right  hand  forget  its 
cunning,  and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth/ 
if  ever  I prove  false  to  those  teachings.  Fellow-citizens, 
I have  addressed  you  longer  than  I expected  to  do,  and 
now  allow  me  to  bid  you  good  night.” 

Extract  From  His  First  Inaugural  Address. 

" Fellow  Citizens  of  the  United  States:  In  compliance 
with  a custom  as  old  as  the  Government  itself,  I ap- 
pear before  you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in 
your  presence,  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  to  be  taken  by  the  President  'before  he 
enters  the  execution  of  his  office/ 

"I  do  not  consider  it  necessary  at  present  for  me  to 
discuss  those  matters  of  administration  about  which  there 
is  no  special  anxiety  or  excitement. 

"Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a Republican 
Administration  their  property  and  their  peace  and  per- 
sonal security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never 
been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed, 
the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while 
existed  and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in 
nearly  all  the  public  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses 
you.  I do  but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches  when  I 
declare  that  'I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where 
it  exists.  I believe  I have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  X 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


185 


have  no  inclination  to  do  so.’  Those  who  nominated  and 
elected  me  did  so  with  full  knowledge  that  I had  made 
this  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  re- 
canted them.  And  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the 
platform  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a law  to  themselves 
and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which  I now 
read : 

“ ‘ Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights 
of  the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to 
order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according 
to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  the  balance 
of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our 
political  fabric  depend,  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  inva- 
sion by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory, 
no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of 
crimes.’ 

“I  now  reiterate  those  sentiments;  and,  in  doing  so,  I 
only  press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive 
evidence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  prop- 
erty, peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in  any 
wise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  Administration.  I 
add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which,  consistent  with 
the  Constitution  and  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully 
given  to  all  the  States,  when  lawfully  demanded,  for  what- 
ever cause — as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  another. 

“I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent 
of  my  ability  I shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  be 
faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this  I deem 
to  be  only  a simple  duty  on  my  part;  and  I shall  per- 
form it,  so  far  as  practicable,  unless  my  rightful  masters, 
the  American  people,  shall  withhold  the  requisite  means, 
or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct  the  contrary. 


“ My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well 
upon  this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by 
taking  time.  If  there  can  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of 
you  in  hot  haste  to  a step  which  you  would  never  take 
deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time  ; 
but  no  good  object  can  be  frustrated  by  it.  Such  of  you 
as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Constitution  un- 
impaired, and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own 
framing  under  it,  while  the  new  Administration  will  have 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either.  If  it 
were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right 
' side  in  the  dispute,  there  still  is  no  single  good  reason 
for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity 
and  a firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken 
this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the 
best  way,  our  present  difficulty. 

“ In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The 
Government  will  not  assail  you. 

“ You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to 
destroy  the  Government;  while  I shall  have  the  most 
solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it. 

“I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends. 
We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

“The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every 
battle-field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and 
hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  'of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely 
they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature.” 

Speech  at  Gettysburg. 

Extract  from  a speech  made  at  the  dedication  of  the 
National  Cemetery,  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  November 
19,  1863. 

‘‘Four  score  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  on  this  continent  a new  Nation,  conceived  in  liberty, 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

“Now  we  are  engaged  in  a great  civil  war,  testing 
whether  that  Nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a great  bat- 
tle-field of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a portion 
of  that  field  as  a final  resting  place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  that  Nation  might  live.  It  is  alto- 
gether fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

“But  in  a larger  sense  we  cannot  dedicate — we  cannot 
consecrate — we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave 
men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  conse- 
crated it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract.  The 
wnrld  will  little  note,  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


187 


for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un- 
finished work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far 
so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedi- 
cated to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us,  that  from 
these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that 
cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devo- 
tion ; that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall 
not  have  died  in  vain ; that  this  Nation,  under  God,  shall 
have  a new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth.” 

Kentucky  Letter. 

“Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  April  4,  1864. 
4tA.  G.  Hoclges , Esq.,  Frankfort , Kentucky . 

“ My  Dear  Sir  : — You  ask  me  to  put  in  writing  the  sub- 
stance of  what  I verbally  stated  the  other  day,  in  your 
presence,  to  Governor  Bramlette  and  Senator  Dixon.  It 
was  about  as  follows : 

“'I  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong, 
nothing  is  wrong.  I cannot  remember  when  I did  not  so 
think  and  feel ; and  yet  I have  never  understood  that  the 
Presidency  conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act 
officially  upon  this  judgment  and  feeling.  It  was  in  the 
oath  I took  that  I would,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  pre- 
serve, protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  I could  not  take  the  office  without  taking  the  oath. 
Nor  was  it  in  my  view  that  I might  take  the  oath  to  get 
power,  and  break  the  oath  in  using  the  power.  I under- 
stood, too,  that  in  ordinary  civil  administration  this  oath 
even  forbade  me  to  practically  indulge  my  primary  ab- 
stract judgment  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery.  I had 
publicly  declared  this  many  times,  and  in  many  ways  ; 
and  I aver  that,  to  this  day,  I have  done  no  official  act 
in  mere  deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling 
on  slavery.  I did  understand,  however,  that  my  oath  to 
preserve  the  Constitution  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  im- 
posed upon  me  the  duty  of  preserving,  by  every  indis- 
pensable means,  that  Government,  that  Nation,  of  which 
that  Constitution  was  the  organic  law.  Was  it  possible 
to  lose  the  Nation,  and  ‘ yet  preserve  the  Constitution? 
By  general  law,  life  and  limb  must  be  protected ; yet  often 
a limb  must  be  amputated  to  save  a life,  but  life  is  never 
wisely  given  to  save  a limb.  I felt  that  measures,  other- 
wise unconstitutional,  might  become  lawful  by  becoming 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  Nation.  Eight  or 
wrong,  I assumed  this  ground,  and  now  avow  it.  I could 
not  feel  that,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I had  even 
tried  to  preserve  the  Constitution,  if,  to  save  slavery, 
or  any  minor  matter,  I should  permit  the  wreck  of 
government,  country,  and  constitution  altogether.  When, 
early  in  the  war,  General  Fremont  attempted  mili- 
tary emancipation,  I forbade  it,  because  I did  not 
then  think  it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When  a little 
later,  General  Cameron,  then  Secretary  of  War,  suggested 
the  arming  of  the  blacks,  I objected,  because  I did  not 
yet  think  it  an  indispensable  necessity.  When,  still  later, 
General  Hunter  attempted  military  emancipation  I forbade 
it,  because  I did  not  yet  think  the  indispensable  necessity 
had  come.  When,  in  March  and  May  and  July,  1862,  I 
made  earnest  and  successive  appeals  to  the  border  States 
to  favor  compensated  emancipation,  I believed  the  indis- 
pensable necessity  for  military  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks  would  come,  unless  averted  by  that  measure. 
They  declined  the  proposition;  and  I was,  in  my  best 
judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative  of  either  surrendering 
the  Union,  and  in  it  the  Constitution,  or  of  laying  strong 
hand  upon  the  colored  element.  I chose  the  latter.  In- 
choosing it  I hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss ; but  of  this 
I was  not  entirely  confident.  More  than  a year  of  trial 
now  shows  no  loss  by  it  in  our  foreign  relations,  none  in 
home  popular  sentiment,  none  in  our  white  military  force, 
— no  loss  by  it  anyhow  or  anywhere.  On  the  contrary,  it 
shows  a gain  of  quite  a hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
soldiers,  seamen,  and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts, 
about  which,  as  facts,  there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have 
men,  and  we  could  not  have  had  them  without  the 
measure. 

‘ “ And  now  let  any  Union  man  who  complains  of  the 
measure  test  himself  by  writing  down  in  one  line  that  he 
is  for  subduing  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms,  and  in  the 
next  that  he  is  for  taking  three  (one  ?)  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  men  from  the  Union  side,  and  placing  them 
where  they  would  be  but  for  the  measure  he  condemns.. 
If  he  cannot  face  his  case  so  stated,  it  is  only  because  he 
cannot  face  the  truth. 

‘ “ I add  a word  which  was  not  in  the  verbal  conver- 
sation. In  telling  this  tale  I attempt  no  compliment  to 
my  own  sagacity.  I claim  not  to  have  controlled  events, 
but  confess  plainly  that  events  have  controlled  me.  Now, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


189 


at  the  end  of  three  years’  struggle,  the  Nation’s  condi- 
tion is  not  what  either  party  or  any  man  desired  or 
expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending 
seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a great 
wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North  as  well  as  you 
of  the  South  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that 
wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  causes  to 
attest  and  revere  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  Lincoln.’  ” 

Second  Inaugural  Address. 

“ Fellow-Countrymen:  At  this  second  appearing  to  take 
ihe  oath  of  the  presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion 
for  an  extended  address  than  there  was  at  the  first. 
Then,  a statement,  somewhat  in  detail,  of  a course  to  be 
pursued,  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at  the 
expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public  declarations 
have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every  point  and 
phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs  the  atten- 
tion and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  Nation,  little  that 
is  new  could,  be  presented.  The  progress  of  our  arms, 
upon  which  all  else  chiefly  depends,  is  as  well  known  to 
the  public  as  to  myself,  and  it  is,  I trust,  reasonably 
Encouraging  to  all. 

“With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard 
to  it  is  ventured.  On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this, 
four  years  ago,  all  thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an 
impending  civil  war.  All  dreaded  it;  all  sought  to  avoid 
it.  While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from 
this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without 
war,  insurgent  agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy 
it,  without  war — seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide 
the  effects,  by  negotiation. 

“Both  parties  deprecated  war;  but  one  of  them  would 
make  war  rather  than  let  the  Nation  survive,  and  the 
other  would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish ; and  the 
war  came.  One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  col- 
ored slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but 
localized  in  the  southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  consti- 
tuted a peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew  that 
this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate  and  extend  this  interest,  was  the 
object  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the  Union  by 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


war,  while  the  Government  claimed  the  right  to  do  no  more 
than  to  restrict  the  Territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

“Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or 
the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  -an- 
ticipated that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  even 
before  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for 
an  easier  triumph,  and  a result  less  fundamental  and 
astounding.  Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  prayed  to  the 
same  God,  and  each  invoked  His  aid  against  the  other. 

“It  may  seem  strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask 
a just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the 
sweat  of  other  men’s  faces.  But  let  us  judge  not,  that  we 
be  not  judged.  The  prayer  of  both  should  not  be  answered — 
that  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has 
his  own  purposes.  ‘Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offenses, 
for  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come;  but  woe  to  that 
man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh.’  If  we  shall  suppose  that 
American  slavery  is  one  of  the  offenses  that  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  con- 
tinued through  His  appointed  time,  He  now  so  wills  to 
remove  that  He  gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  ter- 
rible war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offense 
came,  shall  we  discern  that  there  is  any  departure  from 
those  divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a living  God 
always  ascribe  to  Him.  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do 
we  pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away ; yet,  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the 
wealth  piled  by  the  bondman’s  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every 
drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  an- 
other drawn  with  the  sword — as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  that  the  judgments  of 
the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.  r 

“ With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up 
the  Nation’s  wounds,  and  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphans — to 
do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations.” 

Last  Speech. 

This  speech  was  delivered  April  11,  after  the  surrender 
of  Lee,  in  response  to  a call  from  a vast  multitude  who 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


191 


had  assembled  to  rejoice  oyer  the  victory  our  army  had 
won : 

“We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sorrow,  but  gladness  of 
heart.  The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and 
the  surrender  of  the  principal  insurgent  army,  gives  hopes 
of  a righteous  and  speedy  peace,  whose  joyous  expressions 
can  not  be  restrained.  In  the  midst  of  this,  however,  He 
from  whom  all  blessings  flow  must  not  be  forgotten.  A 
call  for  a National  thanksgiving  is  being  prepared,  and 
will  be  duly  promulgated.  Nor  must  those  whose  harder 
part  gives  us  the  cause  of  rejoicing  be  overlooked.  Their 
honors  must  not  be  parceled  out  with  others.  I myself 
was  near  the  front,  and  had  the  high  pleasure  of  trans- 
mitting much  of  the  good  news  to  you.  But  no  part  of 
the  honor  for  plan  or  execution  is  mine.  To  Gen.  Grant, 
his  skillful  officers  and  brave  men,  all  belongs.  The  gal- 
lant navy  stood  ready,  but  was  not  in  reach  to  take  active 
part.  By  these  recent  successes  the  reinauguration  of  the 
National  authority — reconstruction,  which  has  had  a large 
share  of  thought  from  the  first — is  pressed  much  more 
closely  upon  our  attention.  It  is  fraught  with  great  diffi- 
culty. Unlike  a war  between  independent  nations,  there 
is  no  authorized  organ  for  us  to  treat  with.  No  one  man 
has  authority  to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any  other  man. 
We  must  simply  begin  with,  and  mold  from,  disorganized 
and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a small  additional 
embarrassment,  that  we,  the  loyal  people,  differ  among 
ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner  and  measure  of  recon- 
struction. As  a general  rule,  I abstain  from  reading  the 
reports  of  attacks  upon  myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked 
by  that  to  which  I can  not  properly  offer  an  answer.  In 
spite  of  this  precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my  knowledge 
that  I am  much  censured  for  some  supposed  agency  in 
setting  up  and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new  State  govern- 
ment of  Louisiana.  In  this  I have  done  just  so  much, 
and  no  more,  than  the  public  knows.  In  the  annual  mes- 
sage of  December,  1863,  and  the  accompanying  proclama- 
tion, I presented  a plan  of  reconstruction,  as  the  phrase 
goes,  which  I promised,  if  adopted  by  any  State,  would 
be  acceptable  to  and  sustained  by  the  Executive  Govern- 
ment of  the  Nation.  I distinctly  stated  that  this  was  not 
the  only  plan  which  might  possibly  be  acceptable;  and  I 
also  distinctly  protested  that  the  Executive  claimed  no 
right  to  say  when  or  whether  members  should  be  admitted 
to  seats  in  Congress  from  such  States.  This  plan  was  in 


192 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


advance  submitted  to  the  then  Cabinet,  and  approved  by 
every  member  of  it.  One  of  them  suggested  that  I should 
then,  and  in  that  connection,  apply  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  to  the  heretofore  excepted  parts  of  Virginia 
and  Louisiana,  that  I should  drop  the  suggestion  about 
apprenticeship  for  freed  people,  and  that  I should  omit 
the  protest  against  my  own  power  in  regard  to  the  admis- 
sion of  members  of  Congress.  But  even  he  approved  every 
part  and  parcel  of  the  plan  which  has  since  been  employed 
or  touched  by  the  action  of  Louisiana.  The  new  consti- 
tution of  Louisiana,  declaring  emancipation  for  the  whole 
State,  practically  applies  the  proclamation  to  the  part 
previously  excepted.  It  does  not  adopt  apprenticeship  for 
freed  people,  and  is  silent,  as  it  could  not  well  be  other- 
wise, about  the  admission  of  members  to  Congress.  So 
that  as  it  applied  to  Louisiana,  every  member  of  the  Cab- 
inet fully  approved  the  plan.  The  message  went  to  Con- 
gress, and  I received  many  commendations  of  the  plan, 
written  and  verbal,  and  not  a single  objection  to  it,  from 
any  professed  emancipationist,  came  to  my  knowledge  until 
after  the  news  reached  Washington  that  the  people  of 
Louisiana  had  begun  to  move  in  accordance  with  it.  From 
about  July,  1862,  I had  corresponded  with  different  per- 
sons supposed  to  be  interested  in  seeking  a reconstruction 
of  a State  government  for  Louisiana.  When  the  message 
of  1868,  with  the  plan  before  mentioned,  reached  New 
Orleans,  Gen.  Banks  wrote  to  me  that  he  was  confident 
that  the  people,  with  his  military  co-operation,  would  re- 
construct substantially  on  that  plan.  I wrote  to  him  and 
some  of  them  to  try  it.  They  tried  it,  and  the  result  is 
known.  Such  has  been  my  only  agency  in  getting  up  the 
Louisiana  government.  As  to  sustaining  it,  my  promise 
is  out,  as  before  stated.  But  as  bad  promises  are  better 
broken  than  kept,  I shall  treat  this  as  a bad  promise, 
and  break  it  whenever  I shall  be  convinced  that  keeping 
it  is  adverse  to  the  public  interest,  but  I have  not  yet 
been  so  convinced. 

“ I have  been  shown  a letter  on  this  subject,  supposed 
to  be  an  able  one,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  regret 
that  my  mind  has  not  seemed  to  be  definitely  fixed  on  the 
question  whether  the  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  in  the 
Union  or  out  of  it.  It  would,  perhaps,  add  astonishment 
to  his  regret  were  he  to  learn  that  since  I have  found 
professed  Union  men  endeavoring  to  answer  that  question 
I have  purposely  forebore  any  public  expression  upon  it. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


193 


As  appears  to  me,  that  question  has  not  been,  nor  yet  is 
a practically  material  one,  and  that  any  discussion  of  it 
while  it  thus  remains  practically  immaterial,  could  have 
no  effect  other  than  the  mischievous  one  of  dividing  our 
friends.  As  yet,  whatever  it  may  become,  that  question 
is  had  as  a basis  of  a controversy  and  good  for  nothing 
at  all — a merely  pernicious  abstraction.  We  all  agree  that 
dhe  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  out  of  their  proper 
practical  relation  with  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object 
of  the  Government,  civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  those 
States,  is  to  again  get  them  into  their  proper  practical 
relation.  I believe  that  it  is  not  only  possible,  but,  in  fact, 
•easier  to  do  this  without  deciding,  or  even  considering, 
whether  those  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union 
than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home  it  would 
Fe  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  been  abroad.  Let 
us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restore  the 
proper  practical  relations  between  those  States  and  the 
Nation,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his  own 
opinion  whether  in  doing  the  acts  be  brought  the  States 
from  without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper 
assistance,  they  never  having  been  out  of  it.  The  amount 
of  constituency,  so  to  speak,  on  which  the  Louisiana 
government  rests,  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  all  if  it 
contained  50,000,  or  80,000,  or  even  20,000,  instead  of 
12,000,  as  it  does.  It  is  also  unsatisfactory  to  some  that 
the  elective  franchise  is  not  given  to  the  colored  man.  I 
would  myself  prefer  that  it  were  now  conferred  on  the 
very  intelligent,  and  on  those  who  serve  our  cause  as 
soldiers.  Still  the  question  is  not  whether  the  Louisiana 
government,  as  it  stands,  is  quite  all  that  is  desirable.  The 
question  is,  will  it  be  wiser  to  take  it  as  it  is  and  help  to 
improve  it,  or  to  reject  and  disperse?  Can  Louisiana  be 
brought  into  practical  relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by 
sustaining  or  by  discarding  her  new  State  government? 
Some  12,000  voters  in  the  heretofore  slave  State  of  Louis- 
iana have  sworn  allegiance  to  the  Union,  assumed  to  be 
the  rightful  political  power  of  the  State,  held  elections, 
organized  a State  government,  adopted  a Free  State  Consti- 
tution, giving  the  benefit  of  public  schools  equally  to  black 
and  white,  and  empowering  the  Legislature  to  confer  the 
elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  man.  This  Legislature 
has  already  voted  to  ratify  the  Constitutional  amendment 
recently  passed  by  Congress,  abolishing  slavery  throughout 
the  Nation.  These  12,000  persons  are  thus  fully  committed 
—13 


194 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


to  the  Union  and  to  perpetuate  freedom  in  the  State ; 
committed  to  the  very  things,  and  nearly  all  things,  the 
Nation  wants,  and  they  ask  the  Nation’s  recognition  and 
its  assistance  to  make  good  this  committal.  Now  if  we 
reject  and  spurn  them  we  do  our  utmost  to  disorganize 
and  disperse  them.  We  in  fact  say  to  the  white  man,  you 
are  worthless  or  worse;  we  will  neither  help  you,  nor  be 
helped  by  you.  To  the  blacks  we  say:  This  cup  of  lib- 
erty which  these,  your  old  masters,  held  to  your  lips,  we 
will  dash  from  you,  and  leave  you  to  the  chances  of  gath- 
ering the  spilled  and  scattered  contents  in  some  vague  and 
undefined  when,  where  and  how.  If  this  course,  discour- 
aging and  paralyzing  both  white  and  black,  has  any  tend- 
ency to  bring  Louisiana  into  proper  practical  relations 
with  the  Union,  I have  so  far  been  unable  to  perceive  it. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  we  recognize  and  sustain  the  new 
government  of  Louisiana,  the  converse  of  all  this  is  made 
true.  We  encourage  the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of 
12,000  freemen  to  adhere  to  their  work,  and  argue  for  it, 
and  proselyte  for  it,  and  fight  for  it,  and  feed  it,  and 
grow  it,  and  ripen  it  to  a complete  success.  The 
colored  man,  too,  in  seeing  all  united  for  him,  is  inspired 
with  vigilance  and  energy  and  daring  to  the  same  end. 
Grant  that  he  desires  the  elective  franchise,  will  he  not 
attain  it  sooner  by  saving  the  already  advanced  steps 
toward  it,  than  by  running  backward  over  them  ? Concede 
that  the  new  government  of  Louisiana  is  to  what  it  should 
be  as  the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have  the 
fowl  by  hatching  the  egg,  than  by  smashing  it.  Again, 
if  we  , reject  Louisiana  we  also  reject  one  vote  in  favor  of 
the  proposed  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution.  To 
meet  this  proposition  it  has  been  argued  that  no  more 
than  three-fourths  of  those  States  which  have  not  at- 
tempted secession  are  necessary  to  validly  ratify  the 
amendment.  I do  not  commit  myself  against  this,  further 
than  to  say  that  such  a ratification  would  be  questionable, 
and  sure  to  be  persistently  questioned,  while  a ratification 
by  three-fourths  of  all  the  States  would  be  unquestioned 
and  unquestionable.  I repeat  the  question.  Can  Louisi- 
ana be  brought  into  proper  practical  relation  with  the 
Union  sooner  by  sustaining,  or  by  discarding  her  new 
State  government  ? What  has  been  said  of  Louisiana  will 
apply  to  other  States.  And  yet  so  great  peculiarities 
pertain  to  each  State,  and  such  important  and  sudden 
changes  occur  in  the  same  State,  and  withal  so  new  and 
unprecedented  is  the  whole  case  that  no  exclusive  and 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


195 


inflexible  plan  can  safely  be  prescribed  as  to  details  and 
collaterals.  Such  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan  would 
surely  become  a new  entanglement.  Important  principles 
may  and  must  be  inflexible.  In  the  present  situation,  as 
the  phrase  goes,  it  may  be  my  duty  to  make  some  new 
announcement  to  the  people  of  the  South.  I am  consid- 
ering, and  shall  not  fail  to  act  when  satisfied  that  action 
will  be  proper.” 

Assassination. 

Four  days  after  this  speech,  April  14,  while  seated  in  a 
private  box  at  Ford’s  Theater  with  his  wife  and  some 
friends,  he  was  shot  by  an  assassin,  and  died  next  morn- 
ing at  7 o’clock.  His  body  was  embalmed  and  lay  in 
state  for  six  days,  when  it  was  placed  on  board  a funeral 
train  of  nine  cars,  which  started  April  21,  at  8 a.  m.,  for 
the  burial  place  at  his  distant  home  via  Baltimore,  Har- 
risburg, Philadelphia,  New  York,  Albany,  Buffalo,  Cleve- 
land, Columbus,  Indianapolis  and  Chicago,  arriving  at 
Springfield,  Wednesday,  May  8,  at  9 a.  m.,  after  a jour- 
ney of  thirteen  days.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  grief- 
stricken  people  thronged  the  funeral  route,  and  everywhere 
the  deepest  sorrow  was  made  manifest.  At  Springfield, 
his  body  lay  in  state  one  day,  and  was  sorrowfully  viewed 
by  multitudes  of  men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  the 
State,  and  on  May  4 all  that  was  mortal  of  the  great 
statesman  was  tenderly  and  affectionately  laid  to  rest  at 
Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  where  an  enduring  monument  of 
marble  and  brass  commemorates  his  memory.  But  marble 
and  brass  can  add  nothing  to  the  fame  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln; he  builded  for  himself  a monument  that  will  live 
when  these  evidences  of  love  and  admiration  have  passed 
away. 

How  Lincoln  Came  to  Challenge  Douglas. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  made  the  candidate 
of  the  Republiean  party  for  United  States  Senator,  in  op- 
position to  Douglas,  he  was  met  by  0.  M.  Hatch,  then 
Secretary  of  State,  who  said  to  Mr.  Lincoln: 


196 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“You  must  challenge  Douglas  to  a joint  discussion.” 

“I  do  not  know  so  well  about  that,”  said  Lincoln. 

“ It  is  Democrats  you  wish  to  talk  to,”  replied  Hatch, 
“ and  if  you  do  not  avail  yourself  of  those  who  assemble 
to  hear  Douglas,  you  may  be  sure  of  never  having  a Dem- 
ocratic audience.” 

Mr.  Lincoln  readily  saw  the  force  of  Mr.  Hatch’s  re- 
marks and  his  challenge  to  Douglas  on  the  24th  of  July 
was  the  result. 

Never  an  Abolitionist. 

The  whole  life  and  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln  shows 
that  while  he  was  always  opposed  to  slavery,  he  was  never 
an  Abolitionist  in  the  sense  in  which  Owen  Lovejoy,  Charles 
Sumner,  or  Wendell  Phillips  were.  A series  of  resolu- 
tions, passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Illinois,  of  which  he  was  a member  in  1837,  denying  the 
right  of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  entered  his  solemn  protest  in  the 
words  following : 

“Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  hav- 
ing passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its 
present  session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against 
the  passage  of  the  same.  They  believe  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  is  founded  on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy; 
but  the  promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to 
increase  than  abate  its  evils.  They  believe  that  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  has  no  power  under  the  Con- 
stitution to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
different  States.  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  has  the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but  that 
power  ought  not  to  be  exercised,  unless  at  the  request  of 
the  people  of  said  District.  The  difference  between  these 
opinions  and  those  contained  in  said  resolutions,  is  their 
reason  for  entering  this  protest. 

“Dan  Stone, 

“ Abraham  Lincoln. 

“Representatives  of  Sangamon  County.” 
(See  House  Journal  of  1837.) 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


197 


" Never  kept  Liquor  in  my  House  and  will  not  Begin  Now.” 

This  characteristic  incident  in  the  life  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln was  related  to  us  by  one  who  was  present  at  the 
time  it  occurred.  Soon  after  Lincoln  received  the  nomina- 
tion for  President  at  Chicago,  Milton  Hay,  S.  M.  Cullom, 
0.  M.  Hatch  and  John  Bunn  met  in  the  State  Library  to 
consult  as  to  the  manner  of  entertaining  the  National 
Committee,  which  consisted  of  one  from  each  State  and 
the  President  of  the  Convention,  which  was  soon  expected 
to  visit  Springfield  for  the  purpose  of  formally  notifying 
Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  nomination.  Well  understanding  his 
position  upon  the  question  of  temperance,  they  were  at  a 
loss  to  know  whether  to  provide  liquor  for  his  guests  at  his 
home  or  not.  They  had  not  been  aware  of  Mr.  Lincoln’s 
presence  until  this  subject  was  reached,  when  he  stepped 
forward  and  decided  the  matter  for  them.  He  said:  “I 
have  never  kept  liquor  in  my  house  and  will  not  begin 
now.”  We  are  told  that  a room  was  provided  at  the 
Chenery  House,  which  was  then  the  leading  hotel  of  Spring- 
field,  where  the  distinguished  visitors  were  supplied  with 
such  liquors  as  they  desired.  On  this  question,  as  upon 
all  others,  Lincoln  stood  upon  principle,  and  he  was  un- 
willing to  surrender  principle  in  this  case,  even  though  in 
so  doing  he  might  advance  his  own  personal  interests. 

“A  One-Idea  Court.” 

This  pleasing  anecdote  is  related  to  us  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln by  a gentleman  who  frequented  the  Supreme  Court 
room  in  Springfield,  when  Lincoln  practiced  before  that 
Court.  On  one  occasion,  Judges  Breese,  Skinner  and  Caton 
were  in  the  Library,  talking  of  their  boyhood  days  and 
the  coincidence  of  their  having  all  been  born  in  the  same 
State — New  York — and  the  same  county — Oneida.  Just 
then  Lincoln  stepped  in,  and  having  a few  days  before  lost 


198 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


a case  which  had  been  tried  before  the  Court?  in  which 
all  three  Judges  were  against  him,  wittily  said : “ I thought 
this  was  a one-i-da  Court,  and  now  I know  it.” 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1866, 


Aggregate  Vote  for  State  Officers— Congressman-at-Large— Congressmen, 

by  Districts. 


The  Republicans  met  in  State  Convention  at  Spring- 
field,  August  8,  and  nominated  George  W.  Smith,  for 
Treasurer ; Newton  Bateman,  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  John  A.  Logan  for  Congressman-at- 
Large. 

The  Democrats  held  their  Convention  at  the  same  place, 
August  29,  and  nominated  Jesse  J.  Phillips  for  Treasurer; 
John  M.  Crebs,  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  T.  Lyle  Dickey  for  Congressman-at-Large. 

The  Democratic  ticket  was  exceptionally  strong,  for  the 
reason  that  it  was  composed  exclusively  of  War-Demo- 
crats— men  who  had  served  their  country  gallantly  on  the 
tented  field — and  it  was  believed  that  if  the  Democrats 
could  carry  the  State  at  all,  it  would  be  with  such  a 
ticket,  for,  aside  from  their  soldierly  qualifications,  these 
gentlemen  were  personally  popular. 

The  campaign  was  short  but  vigorous,  Logan  and 
Dickey  making  the  chief  canvass,  but  the  Republicans 
were  the  victors. 

Smith’s  majority  was  55,658;  Bateman’s,  55,161,  and 
Logan’s,  55,590. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


199 


The  Eepublicans  elected  both  branches  of  the  Legisla- 
ture and  eleven  of  the  fourteen  Congressmen. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressman-at- 
Large,  and  Congressmen,  by  districts,  is  as  follows: 

Treasurer. 

George  W.  Smith,  E 203,019 

Jesse  J.  Phillips,  D 147,366 

Superintendent  of, Public  Instruction. 

Newton  Bateman,  E 203,339 

John  M.  Crebs,  I) 147,178 

Congressman-at-Large. 

John  A.  Logan,  E 203,045 

T.  Lyle  Dickey.  D 147,455 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Norman  B.  Judd,  E 15,247 

M.  E.  M.  Wallace.  D 5,667 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  E 16,185 

E.  M.  Haines.  D 3,346 

Third  District. 

Elihu  B.  Washburne,  E 14,657 

Thomas  J.  Turner.  D 3,897 

Fourth  District. 

A.  C.  Harding,  E 15,952 

John  S.  Thompson,  D 13,391 

Fifth  District. 

E.  C.  Ingersoll,  E 18,437 

Silas  Eamsey,  D 9,665 

Sixth  District. 

B.  C.  Cook,  E. 15,015 

S.  W.  Harris,  D 7,721 

Seventh  District. 

H.  P.  H.  Bromwell,  E 17,410 

J.  C.  Black.  D 13,272  I 


200 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Eighth  District. 

Shelby  M.  Cullom,  E 18,62$ 

Edwin  S.  Fowler.  D 14,520 

Ninth  District. 

Charles  E.  Lippincott,  E 14,721 

Lewis  W.  Eoss,  D 15,496 

Tenth  District. 

Henry  Case,  E 14,74$ 

A.  G-.  Burr,  D 17,116 

Eleventh  District. 

Edward  Kitehell,  E 14,379' 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 16,66$ 

Twelfth  District. 

Jehu  Baker,  E 13,032 

Wm.  E.  Morrison,  D 11,956 

Thirteenth  District. 

G.  B.  Eaum,  E 13,459 

Wm.  J.  Allen,  D 12,890 


CHAPTER  XXII, 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1867,. 


Governor — E.  J.  Oglesby. 

Lieutenant-  Governor — W illiam  Bross. 

Secretary  of  State — Sharon  Tyndale. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — 0.  H.  Miner. 

Treasurer — Geo.  W.  Smith. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 
Attorney-General — Eobert  G.  Ingersoll. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


201 


Twenty-fifth  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty- fifth  General  Assembly  convened  J anuary  7,. 
and  consisted  of  the  following  members: 

Senate. 

Daniel  W.  Munn,  Cairo.  Jas.  Strain,  Monmouth. 

John  W.  Wescott,  Xenia.  T.  A.  Boyd,  Lewiston. 

Dan’l  Reily,  Kaskaskia.  G.  L.  Fort,  Lacon. 

David  K.  Green,  Salem.  W.  Bushnell,  Ottawa. 

A.W.  Metcalf,  Edwardsville.  A.  W.  Mack,  Kankakee. 

Wm.  Shepherd,  Jerseyville.  Wm.  Patton,  Sandwich. 

J.  M.  Woodson,  Carlinville.  D.  J.  Pinckney,  Mt.  Morris. 
A.  J.  Hunter,  Paris.  A.  Webster,  Rock  Island. 

J.  L.  Tincher,  Danville.  J.  H.  Addams,  Cedarville. 

W.  H.  Cheney,  Cheney’s  Gr.  A.  C.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 

John  B.  Cohrs,  Pekin.  F.  A.  Eastman,  Chicago. 

M.  McConnel,  Jacksonville.  J.  D.  Ward,  Chicago. 

S.  R.  Chittenden,  Mendon. 


House  of  Representatives. 


N.  R.  Casey,  Mound  City. 

P.  G.  Clemens,  New  Liberty. 
Jas.  Macklin,  Harrisburg. 

J.  M.  Sharp,  Mt.  Carmel. 

N.  Johnson,  Mt.  Vernon. 
Hugh  Gregg,  Marion. 

Dan’l  Hay,  Nashville. 

W.K.  Murphy,  Pinckneyville. 
J.  Campbell,  Steel’s  Mills. 

E.  N.  Bates,  Centralia. 

R.  P.  Hanna,  Fairfield, 

D.  W.  Odell,  Oblong. 

Eli  Bowyer,  Olney. 

Geo.  W.  Cornwell,  Mason. 
Patrick  Dolan,  Enfield. 

A.  B.  Pope,  East  St.  Louis. 
A.  Thompson,  Belleville. 
John  H.  Yager,  Alton. 

J.  F.  Alexander,  Greenville. 

E.  Harlan,  Marshall. 

Chas.  Voris,  Windsor. 

J.  B.  Ricks,  Taylorville. 

J.  C.  Conkling,  Springfield. 
Wm.  McGalliard,  Lincoln. 


Wm.  C.  Shirley,  Staunton. 

R.  M.  Knapp,  Jerseyville. 

H.  C.  Withers,  Carrollton. 

J.  H.  Dennis,  Chambersburg. 
T.  Hollo wbush,  Naples. 

Jas.  M.  E'pler,  Virginia. 

John  M.  Beesley,  Bath. 

F.  G.  Farrell,  Jacksonville. 
H.  L.  Warren,  Quincy. 

P.  J.  Corkins,  Fairweather. 
A.  Hanson,  Bushnell. 

Geo.  W.  Metz,  Rushville. 

J.  G.  Fonda,  Fountain  Green. 
Dan’l  W.  Sedwick,  Suez. 

F.  M.  Bruner,  Monmouth. 
John  Gray,  Wataga. 

Caleb  B.  Cox,  Vermont. 

Geo.  W.  Fox,  Ellisville. 
Thos.  C.  Moore,  Peoria. 

S.  F.  Ottman,  Wyoming. 
Wm.  W.  Sellers,  Pekin. 

Wm.  M.  Smith,  Lexington. 
H.  S.  Green,  Clinton. 

Jas.  M.  True,  Mattoon. 


202 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Malden  Jones,  Tuscola. 

N.  B.  Stage,  Bloomfield, 
Clark  B.  Griggs,  Urbana. 
A.  B.  Bunn,  Decatur. 
Dan’l  S.  Parker,  Kankakee. 
Geo.  E.  King,  Watseka. 
Phil.  Collins,  Morris. 

R.  Clow,  East  Wheatland. 
Wm.  Strawn,  Odell. 

E.  Baldwin,  Farm  Ridge. 

F.  Corwin,  LaSalle. 

Wm.  C.  Stacey,  Princeton. 
R.  T.  Cassell,  Metamora. 

A.  P.  Webber,  Henry. 

Aug.  Allen,  Geneseo. 

A.  S.  Coe,  Port  Byron. 
Jas.  Dinsmoor,  Sterling. 

G.  Ryon,  Paw  Paw  Grove. 
T.  J.  Hewitt,  Foreston. 


S.  A.  Hurlbut,  Belvidere. 
R.  Hampton,  E.  Paw  Paw. 
Jas.  W.  Eddy,  Batavia. 
Wm.  P.  Pierce,  Lisbon. 

E.  B.  Payne,  Waukegan. 

T.  B.  Wakeman,  Harvard. 
A.  I.  Enoch,  Rockford. 
Jos.  M.  Bailey,  Freeport. 
Elijah  Funk,  Mt.  Carroll. 
Henry  Green,  Elizabeth. 
Henry  C.  Childs,  Wheaton. 
Lester  L.  Bond,  Chicago. 
Jos.  S.  Reynolds,  Chicago. 

H.  M.  Singer,  Chicago. 

M.  W.  Leavitt,  Chicago. 
H.  M.  Shepherd,  Chicago. 
A.  F.  Stevenson,  Chicago. 
E.  S.  Taylor,  Evanston. 


Lieutenant-Governor  Bross  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
Charles  E.  Lippincott,  of  Cass,  was  elected  Secretary  with- 
out opposition. 

Franklin  Corwin,  of  LaSalle,  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  over  Newton  R.  Casey,  of  Pulaski,  by  a vote  of 
58  to  24.  Stephen  G.  Paddock,  of  Bureau,  was  elected 
Clerk,  over  M.  B.  Friend,  of  Cass,  by  a vote  of  58  to  24. 

Among  the  new  members  of  this  Assembly  who  were 
able  and  active  were:  Munn,  Boyd,  Fort,  Casey,  Bates, 
Hanna,  Bowyer,  Conkling,  Knapp,  Hurlbut. 

The  Governor’s  message  was  presented  to  the  Assembly 


on  the  7th.  It  was  an  able  and  somewhat  lengthy  state 


paper,  in  which  was  a careful  and  practical  discussion  of  all 
the  State  interests.  During  the  two  years  ending  December 
1,  1866,  the  State  debt  had  been  reduced  $2,364,106.85. 
The  experimental  school  for  idiots,  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  C.  T.  Wilbur,  which  was  authorized  by  the  previous 
General  Assembly,  having  proved  successful,  he  recom- 
mended additional  appropriations  in  that  behalf,  as  also 
for  the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home ; recommended  an  appro- 
priation for  a monument  to  the  memory  of  Abraham 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


203 


Lincoln;  renewed  his  recommendation  in  favor  of  an  In- 
dustrial College;  supported  an  appropriation  in  favor  of 
having  Illinois  properly  represented  at  the  Universal  Expo- 
sition of  the  Industry  of  all  Nations,  at  Paris;  favored 
the  establishment  of  a house  for  the  correction  of  juvenile 
offenders ; recommended  a reform  in  the  pardoning  power ; 
called  attention  to  the  necessity  of  calling  a convention 
to  revise  the  Constitution. 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session,  January  15,  and 
re-elected  Lyman  Trumbull  United  States  Senator,  over 
T.  Lyle  Dickey,  by  a vote  of  76  to  33. 

This  body  was  in  session  fifty-two  days.  Acts  were 
passed  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  a new  State  House ; 
to  locate,  construct  and  carry  on  the  Southern  Illinois 
Penitentiary;  to  aid  the  Illinois  Soldiers’  College;  to  de- 
clare the  Normal  University,  at  Normal,  a State  institu- 
tion; to  remove  the  remains  of  Gov.  Wm.  H.  Bissell  to 
Oak  Ridge  cemetery,  and  to  erect  a monument  over  the 
same;  to  establish  a Reform  School  for  Juvenile  Offend- 
ers; to  create  the  office  of  Attorney- General ; to  establish 
a State  Board  of  Equalization  of  Assessments;  to  locate 
the  Industrial  University ; to  provide  for  reducing  the  rate 
of  State  taxation  for  payment  of  interest  on  the  public 
debt;  to  regulate  warehousemen,  and  authorize  connections 
of  railroads  with  warehouses,  and  the  14th  amendment  to 
the  National  Constitution  was  ratified. 

Under  the  law  creating  the  office,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll 
was  appointed  Attorney-General. 

Special  Session. 

Gov.  Oglesby  convened  the  General  Assembly  in  special 
session,  June  11,  to  provide,  among  other  things,  for  the 
passage  of  a law  for  the  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes 
on  the  shares  of  capital  stock  in  banks  and  banking  asso- 
ciations, and  to  amend  an  act  entitled  “An  act  to  incorporate 


204 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  Mississippi  Eiver  and  Wisconsin  State  Line  Railroad 
Company,”  approved  February  28,  1867. 

A second  special  session  was  convened,  June  14,  to  pro- 
vide for  the  management  of  the  Illinois  State  Penitentiary- 
at  Joliet.  The  lessee  of  the  penitentiary,  without  warning, 
had  surrendered  the  lease  to  the  Governor,  and  hence* 
this  special  session.  The  law  passed  at  this  session  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  contract  system  which  was 
abrogated  by  the  constitutional  amendment  of  1886.. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1868. 


Aggregate  Vote  for  State  Officers— Aggregate  Vote  for  Members  of  Con- 
gress-Aggregate Vote  for  Presidential  Electors. 


The  year  1868  brought  the  people  together  in  another 
National  struggle  for  the  election  of  a President  and  Vice- 
President,  and  again  the  State  was  made  to  resound  with 
the  thunder  of  party  tactics.  The  Republican  State  Con- 
vention met  at  Peoria  May  6,  to  nominate  a State  ticket 
and  appoint  delegates  to  the  National  Convention.  John 
M.  Palmer  was  nominated  for  Governor;  John  Dough- 
erty, for  Lieutenant-Governor ; Edward  Rummel,  for  Sec- 
retary of  State;  Charles  E.  Lippincott,  for  Auditor; 
Erastus  N.  Bates,  for  Treasurer;  Washington  Bushnell, 
for  Attorney-General,  and  John  A.  Logan  for  Congress- 
man-at-Large.  The  Democrats  met  May  7,  at  the  same 
place  for  the  same  purpose.  John  R.  Eden  was  nomina- 
ted for  Governor;  William  H.  Van  Epps,  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor;  Gustav  Van  Horbeke,  for  Secretary  of  State; 
John  R.  Shannon,  for  Auditor;  Jesse  J.  Phillips,  for 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  205 

Treasurer  ; Robert  E.  Williams,  for  Attorney-General,  and 
William  W.  O’Brien  for  Congressman-at-Large. 

U.  S.  Grant,  of  Illinois,  and  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana, 
were  nominated  at  Chicago  May  20,  by  the  Republican 
National  Convention,  for  President  and  Vice-President.  The 
Democratic  National  Convention  met  at  New  York  July  4, 
and  nominated  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  and  Francis 
P.  Blair,  of  Missouri,  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

State  issues  were  completely  absorbed  in  the  discussion 
of  National  questions  growing  out  of  the  war,  and  the  best 
talent  of  both  parties  was  brought  actively  into  the  cam- 
paign, and  every  county  and  district  vigorously  canvassed, 
and  for  many  months  the  voice  of  the  political  orator  was 
heard  in  the  remotest  portions  of  the  State.  The  Republi- 
cans, however,  were  victorious  in  the  State  and  Nation. 
Of  the  fourteen  Congressmen  elected,  eleven  were  Repub- 
lican, and  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  were  Repub- 
lican. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressman-at- 
Large,  Congressmen,  by  districts,  and  Presidential  electors, 


is  as  follows : 

Governor. 

John  M.  Palmer,  R 249,912 

John  R.  Eden,  D 199,813 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

John  Dougherty,  R 249,874 

Wm.  H.  Van  Epps,  D 199,860 

Secretary  of  State. 

Edward  Rummel,  R 249,952 

Gustav  Van  Horbeke,  D 199,485 

Auditor. 

Charles  E.  Lippincott,  R 249,654 

John  R.  Shannon,  D 199,754 

Treasurer. 

Erastus  N.  Bates,  R 249,972 

Jesse  J.  Phillips,  D ' 199,859 


206 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Attorney-General. 

Wash.  Bushnell,  R 249,087 

Robert  E.  Williams,  D 199,895 

Congressman-at-Large. 

John  A.  Logan,  R 249,422 

William  W.  O’Brien,  D 199,789 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Norman  B.  Judd,  R 27,414 

M.  R.  M.  Wallace,  D 19,233 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  R 20,725 

A.  M.  Herrington,  D 6,307 

Third  District. 

E.  B.  Washburne,  R 18,584 

W.  J.  McKim,  D 9,612 

Fourth  District. 

John  B.  Hawley,  R 17,269 

James  W.  Singleton,  D 15,547 

Fifth  District. 

Ebon  C.  Ingersoll,  R 20,991 

John  N.  Niglas,  D 13,686 

Sixth  District. 

Burton  C.  Cook,  R 19,607 

Oliver  C.  Gray,  D 11,946 

Seventh  District. 

Jesse  H.  Moore,  R 22,321 

Thomas  Brewer,  D 17,171 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


207 


Eighth  District. 


Shelby  M.  Cullom,  B..  22,198 

B.  S.  Edwards,  D 19,309 


Ninth  District.  , 

Leonard  F.  Boss,  B 15,279 

Thompson  W.  McNeely,  D 17,877 

Tenth  District. 

Jonathan  B.  Turner,  B 17,397 

Albert  G.  Burr  ,D 21,420 

Eleventh  District. 

James  S.  Martin,  B 16,642 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 20,475 

Twelfth  District. 

John  B.  Hay,  B 14,980 

Wm.  H.  Snyder,  D 13,338 

Thirteenth  District. 

Green  B.  Baum,  B 14,261 

John  M.  Crebs,  D 14,764 


Electors — Seymour. 

John  A.  McClernand 

David  A.  Gage 

Silas  L.  Bryan 

E.  F.  Colby 

Bichard  Bishop 

Edward  F.  Dutcher 

Delos  P.  Phelps 

John  T.  Lindsay  .A 

Perry  A.  Armstrong 

J.  C.  Black 

James  S.  Ewing 

Simeon  P.  Shope  

George  N.  Holliday 

William  B.  Anderson 

Edward  M.  West 

Charles  Burnett 


1 

i 


. .*199,143 


•208 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Electors — Grant. 

Gustavus  Koerner 

Thomas  J.  Henderson 

Stephen  A.  Hurlbut 

Lorenz  Brentano 

Jesse  S.  Hildrup 

James  McCoy 

Henry  W.  Draper 

Thomas  G.  Frost 

Joseph  0.  Glover 

John  W.  Blackburn 

Samuel  C.  Parks 

Damon  G.  Tunnicliff 

John  D.  Strong 

Edward  Kitchell 

Charles  F.  Springer 

Daniel  W.  Munn 


250, 293 


* The  records  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  show  only  these  figures, 
and  it  is  presumed  that  they  represent  the  highest  number  of  votes  cast  for 
the  respective  electoral  tickets. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT- 1869i 


Governor — John  M.  Palmer. 

Lieutenant-Governor — John  Dougherty. 

Secretary  of  State — Edward  Rummel. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Chas.  E.  Lippincott. 
Treasurer— Erastus  N.  Bates. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 
Attorney-General — W ashington  Bushnell. 

Twenty- sixth  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly  convened  January 
4,  and  consisted  of  the  following  members : 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


209 


Senate. 


Dan’l  W.  Munn,  Cairo. 

J.  J.  E.  Turney,  Fairfield. 
S.  K.  Casey,  Mt.  Yernon. 
J.  P.  VanDorstan,  Vandalia, 
W.  C.  Flagg,  Moro. 

W.  Shepherd,  Jerseyville. 
J.  M.  Woodson,  Carlinville. 
Edwin  Harlan,  Marshall. 

J.  L.  Tincher,  Danville. 

J.  McNulta,  Bloomington. 
A.  B.  Nicholson,  Lincoln. 
J.  M.  Epler,  Virginia. 

S.  E.  Chittenden,  Mendon. 


I.  McManus,  Keithsburg. 

T.  A.  Boyd,  Lewiston. 

G.  L.  Fort,  Lacon. 

J.  W.  Strevell,  Pontiac. 
Henry  Snapp,  Joliet. 

Wm.  Patton,  Sandwich. 

D.  J.  Pinckney,  Mt.  Morris. 
A.  Crawford,  Geneseo. 

J.  H.  Addams,  Cedarville. 
A.  C.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 
John  C.  Lore,  Chicago. 

J.  D.  Ward,  Chicago. 


House  of  Eepresentatives. 


N.  E.  Casey,  Mound  City. 

J.  C.  Willis,  Metropolis. 

C.  Burnett,  Shawneetown. 

D.  H.  Morgan,  Eussellville. 

C.  C.  M.  Y.  B.  Payne,  Benton. 

E.  L.  Dennison,  Marion. 
Geo.  Gundlach,  Carlyle. 

J.  M.  McCutcheon,  Sparta. 
T.  H.  Burgess,  DuQuoin. 

T.  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 

John  Halley,  Lovilla. 

J.  Cooper,  Willow  Hill. 

A.  W.  Bothwell,  Clay  City. 
Leonard  Eush,  Vandalia. 
John  Landrigan,  Albion. 

J.  E.  Miller,  Caseyville. 

A.  Eoss,  Mascoutah. 

D.  Kerr,  Edwardsville. 

S.  H.  Challis,  Pocahontas. 
L.  Brookhart,  Majority  Poi’t 
Chas.  Yoris,  Windsor. 

E.  M.  Gilmore,  Litchfield. 
John  Cook,  Springfield. 

Silas  Beason,  Lincoln. 

B.  T.  Burke,  Carlinville. 

T.  B.  Fuller,  Hardin. 

D.  M.  Woodson,  Carrollton. 


A.  Mittower,  Milton. 

Henry  Dresser,  Naples. 

J.  G.  Phillips,  Mound  Stat’n. 

E.  Laning,  Petersburg. 

S.  M.  Palmer,  Jacksonville. 
Thos.  Jasper,  Quincy. 

J.  E.  Downing,  Camp  Point. 
H.  Horrabin,  Blandinville. 
John  Ewing,  Littleton. 

A.  J.  Bradshaw,  LaHarpe. 
D.  M.  Findley,  Oquawka. 

J.  Porter,  Monmouth. 

W.  S.  Gale,  Galesburg. 

T.  M.  Morse,  Middle  Grove. 
John  W.  Eoss,  Lewiston. 

B.  F.  Thompson,  Bradford. 
W.  E.  Phelps,  Elmwood. 

J.  Merriam,*  Hittle. 

S.  E.  Saltonstall,t  Tremont. 
Wm.  M.  Smith,  Lexington. 
J.  Swigart,  DeWitt. 

G.  W.  Parker,  Charleston. 
J.  E.  Callaway,  Tuscola. 

S.  H.  Elliott,  Paris. 

W.  M.  Stanley,  Sullivan. 

J.  WT.  Scroggs,  Champaign. 
J.  M,  Perry,  Kankakee. 


♦Seat  contested, 

^Admitted  to  seat  of  Merriam. 

—14 


210 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


C.  H.  Frew,  Paxton. 

Geo.  Gaylord,  Lockport. 
Phil.  Collins,  Morris. 

Wm.  Strawn,  Odell. 
Franklin  Corwin,  Peru. 
Sam’l  Wiley,  Earlville. 

L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
Chas.  G.  Reed,  Malden. 

J.  W.  Hopkins,  Grandville. 
P.  K.  Hanna,  Green  River. 
H.  F.  Sickles,  Moline. 

J.  Dinsmoor,  Sterling. 
Alonzo  Kinyon,  Amboy. 

0.  B.  Youngs,  Hale. 

C.  W.  Marsh,  DeKalb. 

E.  H.  Talbott,  Belvidere. 


Irus  Coy,  Bristol. 

N.  N.  Ravlin,  Kaneville. 

A.  B.  Cook,  Libertyville. 

P.  W.  Dietz,  Marengo. 

E.  Sumner,  Pecatonica. 

J.  M.  Bailey,  Freeport. 
Adam  Nase,  Mt.  Carroll. 

H.  Green,  Elizabeth. 

H.  C.  Childs,  Wheaton. 

H.  B.  Miller,  Chicago. 

L.  L.  Bond,  Chicago. 

J.  S.  Reynolds,  Chicago. 

F.  Munson,  Chicago. 

J.  C.  Knickerbocker,  Chicago. 
Iver  Lawson,  Chicago. 

E.  S.  Taylor,  Evanston. 


Lieutenant-Governor  Dougherty  presided  over  the  Sen- 
ate, and  Chauncey  Ellwood  was  elected  Secretary,  over 
James  Low,  by  a vote  of  17  to  6. 

Franklin  Corwin  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  over 
Newton  R.  Casey,  by  a vote  of  58  to  28,  and  James  P.  Root, 
of  Cook,  Clerk,  over  J.  Merrick  Bush,  of  Pike,  by  a vote 
of  56  to  23. 

The  message  of  Oglesby,  the  retiring  Governor,  was  laid 
before  the  two  houses  on  the  4th,  It  was  non-political 
and  was  confined  exclusively  to  the  discussion  of  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the  State.  There 
had  been  four  years  of  unbroken  prosperity.  From  Decem- 
ber 1,  1866  to  December  1,  1868,  there  had  been  paid  on 
the  public  debt,  principal  and  interest,  $2,379,715.59,  and 
for  the  four  years  commencing  December  1,  1864  and  end- 
ing December  1,  1868,  $4,743,822.44. 

The  first  year  of  the  administration  of  Gov.  Oglesby 
had* been  a very  laborious  one;  ten  regiments  of  volun- 
teer soldiers  were  organized  under  the  last  call  of  the 
President,  and  when  the  rebellion  closed  the  Governor’s 
time  was  occupied  almost  wholly,  for  many  months,  in 
giving  attention  to  the  details  of  mustering  out  of  the  ser- 
vice the  Illinois  soldiers.  Gov.  Oglesby  was  an  eminently 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


211 


popular  man.  The  Legislature  being  in  harmony  with 
his  views,  his  recommendations  were  carried  out  in  the 
greatest  measure.  The  Normal  University  at  Normal 
was  declared  a State  institution;  the  Industrial  Uni- 
versity at  Champaign  was  created ; the  foundation  for  the 
school  for  feeble-minded  children,  at  Lincoln,  was  laid ; the 
Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  at  Chicago  was  fostered;  the 
the  Soldiers’  Orphans’  Home  at  Normal  was  estab- 
lished; the  office  of  Attorney-General  was  created;  a re- 
form in  the  management  of  penitentiaries  was  instituted ; 
a reform  school  for  juvenile  offenders  was  created,  and 
the  new  State  House  was  begun. 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  11th  of 
January,  when  Gov.  Palmer  took  the  oath  of  office  and 
delivered  a brief  inaugural  address,  ^in  which  he  took 
occasion  to  urge  upon  the  attention  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly the  recommendations  contained  in  the  message  of  his 
predecessor.  Said  he: 

“ I am  able  to  say  that  the  whole  duty  of  the  Governor, 
to  the  utmost  extent  of  the  requirements  of  the  constitu- 
tion, has  been  discharged  by  my  predecessor.  The  com- 
prehensive message  communicated  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly at  the  opening  of  the  present  session  furnishes  the 
amplest  information  of  the  state  of  the  government,  of  the 
operation  of  existing  laws,  and  covers,  by  wise  and  judi- 
cious recommendations,  almost  every  subject  in  regard  to 
which  legislative  action  can  be  necessary  or  expedient. 

“I  cannot  better  discharge  my  duty  to  the  people  than 
by  urging  upon  your  attention  the  information  given,  and 
the  measures  recommended,  by  the  experienced  and 
patriotic  statesman  who  now  retires  from  the  executive 
office  which  he  has  filled  with  such  advantage  and  credit 
to  the  State.” 

This  body  was  in  session  one  hundred  and  six  days — 
a longer  period  by  far  than  that  of  any  former  General 
Assembly.  The  vital  public  acts  which  were  passed,  and 
received  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  were  as  follows: 
Acts  to  secure  the  endowment  fund  of  the  Illinois  Agri- 
cultural College ; to  encourage  agricultural  societies ; to  erect 


212 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  carry  on  an  asylumn  for  the  insane  for  Northern 
Illinois;  making  appropriations  for  the  Illinois  Industrial 
University;  to  establish  and  maintain  the  Southern  Illi- 
nois Normal  University;  to  appoint  a State  Agent  to  col- 
lect war  claims  against  the  United  States;  to  amend  an 
act  establishing  a home  for  the  children  of  deceased  sol- 
diers ; to  provide  for  building  a soldiers’  monument  at  the 
National  Cemetery  near  Mound  City;  to  aid  the  Illi- 
nois Soldiers’  College  at  Fulton ; to  amend  an  act  provid- 
ing for  the  erection  of  a new  State  House ; to  aid  the 
Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary;  to  appoint  a Board  of  Commis- 
sioners of  Public  Charities;  to  provide  for  calling  a con- 
vention to  revise,  alter  or  amend  the  Constitution  of  the 
State;  to  allow  convicts  in  the  penitentiary  a credit  for 
good  conduct  in  the  diminution  of  their  term  of  imprison- 
ment; to  prevent  cruelty  to  animals;  to  facilitate  drain- 
age of  wet  or  overflowed  lands ; to  prevent  frauds  in  elec- 
tions for  subscriptions  to  stock  in  or  for  donations  in  aid 
of  any  incorporation;  to  prevent  frauds  upon  gas  con- 
sumers and  gas  companies;  to  regulate  insurance  com- 
panies ; to  punish  frauds  upon  insurance  companies ; to 
provide  for  permanent  survey  of  lands ; to  provide  for  the 
preservation  of  field  notes,  maps,  and  other  papers  apper- 
taining to  land  titles  in  the  State ; to  prevent  prize-fight- 
ing and  sparring  or  boxing  exhibitions ; to  amend  the  rail- 
road law ; to  regulate  the  rate  for  the  conveyance  of  pas- 
sengers and  freight  by  railroads;  to  protect  lives  and 
property  of  persons  at  railway  crossings  of  the  public  high- 
ways; to  fence  railroads;  to  fund  and  provide  for  paying 
the  railroad  debts  of  counties,  townships,  cities  and  towns ; 
to  amend  the  act  establishing  the  State  Board  of  Equali- 
zation ; to  amend  an  act  condemning  the  right  of  way  for 
purposes  of  public  improvement;  to  amend  the  school 
law;  to* facilitate  the  transportation  of  grain,  produce  and 
merchandise  by  railroads ; to  protect  widows  and  orphans 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


213 


from  the  sacrifice  of  their  property  by  sales  upon  mort- 
gages and  trust  deeds,  and  the  XVth  amendment  to  the 
National  Constitution  was  ratified. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1869-70. 


Illinois  having  outgrown  the  Constitution  of  1848,  the 
Convention  which  had  been  elected  to  amend,  alter  or 
revise  the  same,  met  at  Springfield  on  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1869,  and  was  composed  of  the  following  delegates, 
which  are  given  by  districts: 

1st — William  J.  Allen. 

2d — George  W.  Brown. 

3d — W.  G.  Bowman. 

4th — James  M.  Sharp. 

5th — William  B.  Anderson. 

6th — James  M.  Washburn. 

7 th — Harvey  P.  Buxton. 

8th — J.  H.  Wilson,  George  W.  Wall. 

9th — Silas  L.  Bryan. 

10th — Robert  P.  Hanna. 

11th — James  C.  Allen. 

12th — James  P.  Robinson. 

13th — Beverly  W.  Henry,1  Ferris  Forman.2 
14th — Charles  E.  McDowell. 

15th — William  H.  Snyder,  William  H.  Underwood. 

16th — Charles  F.  Springer,  Henry  W.  Billings.3 
17th — John  Scholfield. 

18th — George  R.  Wendling. 

19th — Edward  Y.  Rice. 

20th — Milton  Hay,  Samuel  C.  Parks. 

21st — John  W.  Hankins. 


Hlesigned  March  3. 


2 Vice  B.  W.  Henry. 


8Died  April  19. 


214 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


22(1 — Robert  A.  King. 

23d — James  W.  English. 

24th — William  R.  Archer,  John  Abbott. 

25th — William  L.  Yandeventer. 

26th— 0.  H.  Wright. 

27th — Henry  J.  Atkins. 

28th — Orville  H.  Browning,  Onias  0.  Skinner. 

29th— W.  H.  Neece. 

30th — Jesse  C.  Fox. 

31st — David  Ellis. 

32d — James  S.  Poage. 

33d— A.  G.  Kirkpatrick,4  Henry  Tubbs.5 
34th — Alfred  M.  Craig. 

35th — Lewis  W.  Ross,  Samuel  P.  Cummings. 

36th— Henry  W.  Wells,  Miles  A.  Fuller. 

37th — Jonathan  Merriam. 

38th — Reuben  M.  Benjamin,  Clifton  H.  Moore. 

39th — John  L.  Tincher,  Henry  P.  H.  Bromwell,  Richard 
B.  Sutherland. 

40th — Charles  Emmerson,6  Abel  Harwood. 

41st — William  H.  Patterson,7  John  P.  Gamble.8 
42d — Addison  Goodell. 

43d — William  C.  Goodhue,  W.  P.  Peirce. 

44th — George  S.  Eldridge,  Joseph  Hart,  Nathaniel  J. 
Pillsbury. 

45th — L.  D.  Whiting,  James  G.  Bayne,  Peleg  S.  Perley. 
46th — George  E.  Wait. 

47th — Calvin  Truesdale. 

48th — James  McCoy. 

49th — John  Dement. 

50th — Joseph  Parker. 

51st — Westel  W.  Sedgwick,  Jesse  S.  Hildrup. 

52d — Charles  Wheaton,  Henry  Sherrill. 

53d — Elijah  M.  Haines. 

54th — Lawrence  S.  Church. 

55th — Robert  J.  Cross. 

56th — Thomas  J.  Turner. 

57th — William  Cary,  David  C.  Wagner. 

58th — Hiram  H.  Cody. 

59th — Joseph  Medill,  John  C.  Haines,  S.  Snowden  Hayes. 
60th — William  F.  Coolbaugh,  Charles  Hitchcock. 

61st — Elliott  Anthony,  Daniel  Cameron. 


4Died  March  15. 

6 Vice  A.  Gr.  Kirkpatrick. 

6Died  April  15. 


7Died  January  16. 

6 Vice  W.  H.  Patterson. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


215 


John  Dement  was  elected  President  pro  tempore;  Charles 
Hitchcock,  President,  and  John  Q.  Harmon,  Secretary. 

Among  the  able  and  active  minds  of  this  Convention 
were : William  J.  Allen,  Bowman,  Anderson,  Wall,  Bryan, 
Hanna,  James  C.  Allen,  McDowell,  Snyder,  Underwood, 
Billings,  Scholfield,  Bice,  Hay,  Parks,  English,  Archer, 
Vandeventer,  Browning,  Skinner,  Craig,  Boss,  Wells,  Ben- 
jamin, Eldridge,  Pillsbury,  Whiting,  Wheaton,  Hayes, 
Church,  Turner,  Cody,  Medill,  Dement,  Coolbaugh,  E.  M. 
Haines  and  Hitchcock. 

The  Constitution  framed  by  this  Convention  has  been  in 
force  full  nineteen  years,  and  has  been  accepted  as  one  of 
the  wisest  and  best  organic  laws  ever  framed. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1870, 


The  year  1870  was  rather  a spiritless  State  campaign; 
neither  of  the  great  parties  was  in  a hurry  to  go  into 
the  contest;  the  Bepublicans  did  not  hold  their  State 
Convention  until  September  1.  Erastus  N.  Bates  was 
nominated  for  Treasurer;  Newton  Bateman,  for  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction.  Both  of  these  gentlemen 
were  the  incumbents  of  the  offices  to  which  they  sought 
a re-election.  Under  the  Constitution  of  1848  the  Treas- 
urer was  not  restricted  to  a single  term  as  now. 

The  Democrats  held  their  Convention  September  7 and 
nominated  Charles  Bidgely  for  Treasurer,  and  Charles 
Feinse  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers  and  members  of 
Congress  is  as  follows: 


216 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


Treasurer. 

Erastus  N.  Bates,  R 168,579' 

Charles  Ridgely,  D 144,923 

H.  J.  Hammond . 3,756 

Superintendent  op  Public  Instruction. 

Newton  Bateman,  R 166,859 

Charles  Feinse,  D 144,889 

Daniel  Wilkins 3,820 

Members  of  Congress — First  Distrct. 

Charles  B.  Farwell,  R 20,342 

John  Wentworth 15,025 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  R 8,396 

J.  C.  Stoughton,  D 6,516 

Richard  Bishop 2,349 

Amos  Shepard 2 

Third  District. 

H.  C.  Burchard,  R 11,718 

Charles  Betts 6,219 

W.  E.  Luckens 12 

Fourth  District. 

John  B.  Hawley,  R 12,023 

P.  L.  Cable,  D 11,982 

Fifth  District. 

B.  N.  Stevens,  D 11,579 

E.  C.  Ingersoll,  R 9,963 

F.  B.  Ives 868 

Sixth  District. 

Burton  C.  Cook,  R 10,452 

Julius  Avery,  D 7,839 

Alexander  Campbell 159' 

Seventh  District. 

Jesse  H.  Moore,  R 14,089' 

Andrew  J.  Hunter,  D 13,418; 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  21T 

Eighth  District. 

James  C.  Eobinson,  D 13,702 

Jonathan  Merriam,  E 12,448 

George  W.  Minier 1,175 


Ninth  District. 


Thompson  W.  McNeely,  D 

B.  F.  Westlake,  B 

. . . . 12,693 

. . . . 10,297 

Tenth  District. 

Edward  Y.  Bice,  D 

J.  W.  Kitchell,  B 

. . . . 13,963 

. . . . 12,028 

Eleventh  District. 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 

William  H.  Bobinson,  B 

. . . . 15,771 

. . . . 11,444 

Twelfth  District. 

John  B.  Hay,  B 

William  Hartzell,  D 

. . . . 10.903 

. . . . 10,126 

Thirteenth  District. 

John  M.  Crebs,  D 

Daniel  W.  Munn,  B 

. . . . 13,949 

. . . . 12,366 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

FIDELITY  OF  STATE  OFFICERS, 


Canal  Scrip  Fraud— Letter  of  Ex-Gov.  Matteson  to  the  Committee  of  Investi- 
gation-Mortgage of  His  Property  to  Secure  the  Payment  of  $250,000— 
Macallister  & Stebbins  Bonds  Fraud— Gov.  Bissell’s  Emphatic  Denial  of 
any  Knowledge  of  the  Fraud. 


It  is  a matter  of  congratulation  and  pride  to  know  that 
Illinois  has  never  lost  anything  by  her  State  officers.  The 
Treasurers  of  other  States  have  not  unfrequently  defaulted 


218 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


in  large  sums  of  money,  but  those  of  Illinois  have  always 
been  faithful  to  their  trusts. 

The  nearest  the  State  ever  came  to  losing  money  of 
any  considerable  amount,  was  during  the  administration 
of  Gov.  Joel  A.  Matteson,  but  the  matter  was  not  discov- 
ered until  the  early  part  of  1859,  two  years  after  he  had 
gone  out  of  office.  The  General  Assembly  being  in  session, 
the  Senate  appointed  a committee  of  investigation,  consist- 
ing of  S.  W.  Fuller,  B.  C.  Cook,  A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Z. 
Applington  and  S.  A.  Buckmaster.  On  February  9,  1859, 
Mr.  Matteson  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  com- 
mittee : 

Springfield,  III.,  Feb.  9,  1859. 
To  the  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Finance  Committee: 

Sir — At  the  date  of  my  former  communication  to  the 
chairman  of  the  Senate  committee,  I supposed  the  validity 
of  the  bonds  issued  to  me  for  canal  scrip,  of  the  issues 
of  May  and  August,  1889,  was  supposed  to  depend  upon 
the  genuineness  of  the  scrip.  Since,  to  my  great  surprise, 
the  fact  is  established  that  these  scrip,  or  checks,  though 
genuine,  have  been  redeemed  by  the  officers  and  agents 
of  the  State  many  years  since,  and  have  been,  by  some 
person  or  persons  unknown  to  me,  abstracted  from  the 
places  where  they  were  deposited,  and  again  put  in  circu- 
lation. With  perfect  innocence  on  my  part,  and  without 
the  remotest  suspicion  that  the  scrip  had  ever  been  re- 
deemed, these  checks  were  purchased  by  me  of  different 
persons,  for  their  cash  value  at  the  time,  upon  actual 
payment  of  money  therefor. 

I have  thus  unconsciously  and  innocently  been  made 
the  instrument  through  whom  a gross  fraud  upon  the  State 
has  been  attempted. 

My  past  relations  to  the  people  of  this  State,  and  my 
earnest  desire  for  the  preservation  of  my  own  reputation 
pure  and  spotless,  render  me  unwilling  to  retain  these 
bonds,  although  purchased  by  and  issued  to  me  bona  fide , 
and  for  a valuable  consideration.  I am  willing,  rather 
than  possess  one  cent  that  the  State  of  Illinois  ought  not 
to  pay,  even  though  the  courts  might  decide  that  by  the 
strict  rules  of  law  my  rights  to  these  bonds  could  not  be 
impeached,  to  sustain  myself  the  whole  loss,  and  to  return 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


219 


all  the  money  and  evidences  of  indebtedness  of  every  kind 
I have  received  of  the  State  on  account  of  these  checks 
or  any  bonds  issued  for  them. 

The  bonds  are  already  deposited  as  security  for  the  cir- 
culation of  the  State  Bank.  I will  indemnify  the  State 
against  all  liability  on  these  bonds,  and  provide  for  the 
repayment  of  any  money  or  evidences  of  indebtedness  re- 
ceived as  aforesaid,  by  and  with  any  kind  of  security  that 
may  reasonably  be  required  therefor.  Of  course  it  may 
take  some  time  to  replace  so  large  an  amount,  and  I pro- 
pose that  upon  my  giving  the  security  above  indicated, 
satisfactory  to  the  proper  officer,  the  bonds  remain  and 
be  held  as  security  for  the  circulation  of  the  State  Bank, 
with  the  privilege  to  me,  from  time  to  time,  to  replace 
them  with  other  securities,  and  as  thus  replaced  they  shall 
be  canceled  by  the  Governor. 

The  same  regard  for  my  reputation  (which  is  of  more 
value  to  me  than  any  amount  of  money),  that,  in  connec- 
tion with  my  unwillingness  to  profit  by  the  loss  of  the 
State,  has  prompted  the  foregoing  proposition,  also  leads 
me  to  ask,  as  an  act  of  justice  to  myself,  that  the  investi- 
gation commenced  by  the  committee  should  be  continued. 
I will  lend  every  assistance  in  my  power  to  render  it 
thorough  and  searching,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  the 
commencement  of  the  wrong,  if  not  the  perpetrators.  For 
this  purpose,  I hope,  if  necessary,  the  committee  will  be 
authorized  to  act  in  vacation.  From  my  acquaintance 
with  the  gentlemen  composing  the  committee,  as  well  as 
from  the  courtesy  already  manifested  by  them  to  me,  I 
doubt  not  they  will  be  willing  to  continue  the  investiga- 
tion even  after  the  adjournment,  if  necessary. 

J.  A.  Matteson. 

The  investigation  continued  uniil  1861,  through  this  and 
other  committees  acting  under  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  although  an  elaborate  report  was  finally 
made,  the  names  of  the  perpetrators  of  the  fraud  were 
never  revealed.  On  Becord  “F”  we  find  that  judgment  was 
rendered  against  Mr.  Matteson  in  the  Sangamon  Circuit 
Court,  October  28,  1862,  for  $250,000.  Agreeably  to  the 
proposition  made  in  his  letter  of  February  9,  1859,  Mr. 
Matteson  executed  to  the  State  a mortgage  on  real  estate, 
which  included  his  elegant  residence  in  Springfield,  in  an 


220 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


amount  deemed  sufficient  to  pay  the  judgment,  and  by  an 
act  of  the  General  Assembly  approved  February  14,  1868, 
Alexander  Starne  was  appointed  trustee.  The  mortgage 
was  foreclosed,  but  the  property  did  not  sell  for  sufficient 
to  satisfy  the  judgment,  and  subsequently  A.  B.  Safford,. 
of  Cairo,  turned  over  to  the  State,  for  the  benefit  of  Mr. 
Matteson,  lands  in  Henry  county  valued  at  $80,000.  We 
are  informed  by  the  trustee,  Mr.  Starne,  that  the  prop- 
erty has  all  been  sold  except  a few  tracts  of  land  in 
Peoria  and  Henry  counties,  and  some  town  lots  in  Joliet 
and  LaSalle,  worth  altogether  about  $15,000,  which,  when- 
sold,  it  is  believed,  will  satisfy,  in  full,  the  principal  of 
the  judgment,  if  not  the  interest. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  real  facts  in  regard  to 
this  fraudulent  proceeding,  so  far  as  Gov.  Matteson  him- 
self is  concerned,  considering  his  previous  high  character 
and  the  exalted  position  he  had  held  at  the  hands  of  the 
people  of  his  State,  the  charitable  reader  will  give  the 
statement  in  his  letter  relating  to  his  personal  connection 
with  the  fraud  the  consideration  it  is  entitled  to. 

In  1859,  there  was  a similar  attempt  to  defraud  the  State 
out  of  a large  sum  of  money,  through  what  is  known  as 
the  Macallister  & Stebbins  bonds,  but  it  was  unsuccessful.. 
An  effort  was  made  to  fasten  its  responsibility  upon  the 
administration  of  Gov.  Bissell,  but  he  was  prompt  to  deny 
all  knowledge  of  it  in  terms  that  had  no  doubtful  mean- 
ing, and  which  carried  with  them  a belief  of  his  entire 
innocence. 

The  wisdom  of  limiting  the  term  of  the  treasurer  to 
two  years  and  prohibiting  a reelection  within  four  years 
becomes  more  apparent  as  the  years  go  by. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


221 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT— 1871. 


Governor — John  M.  Palmer. 

Lieutenant-Governor — J ohn  Dougherty. 

Secretary  of  State — Edward  Rummel. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Chas.  E.  Lippincott. 
Treasurer — Erastus  N.  Bates. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 
Attorney- General — Washington  Bushnell. 

Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly — First  Session. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assem- 
bly convened  January  4,  and  adjourned,  April  17,  until 
November  15.  The  assembly  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing members: 

Senate. 

Simeon  K.  Gibson,1  Equality.  Charles  Voris,  Windsor. 

T.  A.  E.  Holcomb,  S.  Pass.  Edwin  Harlan,  Marshall. 
Wm.  G.  Bowman.2  Robert  N.  Bishop,  Paris. 

J.  Jackson,  Lawrenceville.  John  L.  Tincher,  Danville. 
John  Landrigan,  Albion.  J.  W.  Langley,  Champaign 
S.  K.  Casey,1  Mt.  Vernon.  J.  McNulta,  Bloomington. 

J.  M.  Washburn,  Fredonia.  M.  Donahue,  Clinton. 

W.  B.  Anderson,3  Mt.  Vernon  A.  B.  Nicholson,  Lincoln. 

J.  P.  VanDorstan,  Vandalia.  Alex.  Starne,  Springfield. 

J.  F.  Alexander,  Greenville.  J.  M.  Epler,  Jacksonville. 
Willard  C.  Flagg,  Moro.  Edward  Laning,  Petersburg. 
W.  H.  Underwood,  Belleville.  J.  H.  Richardson,  Quincy. 
Wm.  Shepherd,4  Jerseyville.  Jesse  C.  Williams,  Carthage. 
J.  M.  Bush,  Pittsfield.  Benj.  R.  Hampton,  Macomb. 

Wm.  H.  Allen.5  Harvey  S.  Senter,  Aledo. 

L.  Solomon,  Vancil’s  Point.  T.  A.  Boyd,  Lewiston. 

UDied.  4Resigned. 

2 Vice  Simeon  K.  Gibson,  deceased.  6 Vice  Wm.  Shepherd,  resigned. 

3 Vice  Samuel  K.  Casey,  deceased. 


222 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Henry  J.  Vaughn,  Victoria. 
Mark  Bangs,  Lacon. 

Lucien  H.  Kerr,  Peoria. 
Jason  W.  Strevell,  Pontiac. 
Wm.  Reddick,  Ottawa. 
Henry  Snapp,2  Joliet. 

Wm.  P.  Pierce,  Minooka. 
John  F.  Daggatt.6 
Chas.  W.  Marsh,  Sycamore. 
James  W.  Eddy,  Batavia. 
James  K.  Edsall,  Dixon. 

W.  S.  Wilkinson,  Morrison. 


A.  Crawford,  Geneseo. 

L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
W.  A.  Little,1  Elizabeth. 

J.  M.  Hunter,  Mt.  Carroll* 
Allen  C.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 
John  Early,  Rockford. 

John  C.  Dore,  Chicago. 
John  N.  Jewett,  Chicago. 
Willard  Woodard,  Chicago* 
J.  L.  Beveridge,2  Evanston* 
Artemus  Carter,7  Chicago. 


House  of  Representatives. 


H.  Watson  Webb,  Cairo. 
Wm.  R.  Brown,  Metropolis. 
Geo.  W.  Waters,  Glendale. 

J.  B.  Morray,  Reynoldsburg. 
Wm.  C.  Rich,  South  Pass. 
Wm.  Schwartz,2  Elkville. 

W.  A.  Lemma,3  Carbondale. 
Addison  Reese,  Jr.,  Marion. 
Wm.  Elder,  Eldorado. 

Wm.  N.  Ayres,  Elizabetht’wn 
Frank  E.  Hay,  Carmi, 

Calvin  Allen,  McLeansboro. 
W.  W.  Barr,  Benton. 

Wm.  R.  Gass,  DuQuoin. 
James  R.  Ralls,  Chester. 

D.  R.  McMasters,  Sparta. 
Wm.  R.  Morrison,  Waterloo. 
J.  R.  Miller,  Caseyville. 

G.  Kcerner,  Belleville. 

J.  Hinchcliffe,  Belleville. 

A.  S.  Rowley,  Richview. 
Thos.  S.  Casey,  Mt.  Vernon. 
A.  T.  Galbraith,  Johnsonville 
Walter  L.  Mayo,  Albion. 

J.  D.  Sage,  Lawrenceville. 
Israel  A.  Powell,  Olney. 
Osman  Pixley,  Ingraham. 
Thos.  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 
Sam’l  L.  Dwight,  Centralia. 


Sam’l  Burnside,  Carlyle. 

D.  B.  Gillham,  Alton. 

A.  F.  Rodgers,  Upper  Alton* 
Theo.  Miller,  St.  Jacob. 
William  Brown,  Old  Ripley. 
Jacob  Fouke,  Vandalia. 
David  Leith1  Mason. 

B.  F.  Kagay,  Effingham. 
Wm.  McElwee,  Greenup. 
Wm.  C.  Jones,  Robinson. 
Wm.  T.  Briscoe,  Westfield* 
Edward  Barrett,  Neoga. 
John  Casey,  Moweaqua. 

E.  Roessler,  Shelby ville. 

W.  B.  Hundley,  Taylorville. 
Thomas  Finley,1  Pana. 

B.  Dornblaser,  Assumption. 
James  M.  Berry,  Irving. 

J.  N.  McElvain,  Litchfield. 
J.  N.  McMillan,  Carlinville* 
G.  A.  W.  Cloud,  Girard. 

G.  W.  Herdman,  Jerseyville. 
Robert  A.  King,  Jerseyville* 
Thos.  H.  Boyd,  Carrollton. 
Charles  Kenny,  Griggsville. 
Albert  Landrum,  El  Dara. 
Jas.  M.  Riggs,  Winchester. 
Newton  Cloud,  Waverly. 

W.  H.  Barnes,  Jacksonville. 


•Died.  *Vice  Schwartz,  resigned.  *Vice  Henry  Snapp,  resigned. 
^Resigned.  7Vice  John L.  Beveridge,  resigned. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


223 


Chas.  H.  Eice,  Springfield. 
W.  M.  Springer,  Springfield. 
N.  E.  Taylor,  Williamsville. 
Wm.  E.  Nelson,  Decatur. 
Wm.  T.  Moffitt,  Decatur. 
Jonathan  Meeker,  Sullivan. 
J.  E.  Cuningham,  Charleston. 
Azariah  Jeffries,  Mattoon. 
James  Gaines,  Eidge  Farm. 
Geo.  W.  Eives,  Paris. 

John  Cofer,  Areola. 

John  C.  Short,  Danville. 

W.  P.  Chandler,  Danville. 
E.  C.  Wright,  Homer. 

J.  C.  Sheldon,  Urbana. 

A.  L.  Eodgers,  Cerro  Gordo. 
Wm.  E.  Carle,  Wapella. 
Peter  J.  Hawes,  Atlanta. 
Augustus  Eeise,  Atlanta. 
Wm.  W.  Easley,  Virginia. 

S.  C.  Knoles,  Petersburg. 

J.  G.  Phillips,  Mt.  Sterling. 
S.  S.  Benson,  Huntsville. 

A.  H.  Trimble,  Marceline. 
Maurice  Kelly,  Liberty. 

J.  H.  Stewart,  Quincy. 

G.  J.  Eichardson,  Quincy. 

L.  Mussetter,  Warsaw. 

M.  M.  Morrill,  Nauvoo. 
Wm.  H.  Neece,  Macomb. 
James  Manley,  Macomb. 
John  W.  Eoss,  Lewiston. 

S.  P.  Cummings,  Astoria. 

T.  M.  Morse,  Middle  Grove. 
M.  Langston,  Manito. 

C.  A.  Eoberts,  Pekin. 

Ira  B.  Hall,  Delavan. 

W.  M.  Smith,  Lexington. 

E.  E.  Eoe,1  Bloomington. 
W.  C.  Watkins,  Bloomington. 
Geo.  W.  Funk,  McLean. 

L.  H.  Kerrick,2  Bloomington. 
Addison  Goodell,  Loda. 
Thos.  Vennum,  Watseka. 
John  Stillwell,  Chatsworth. 


Jas.  G.  Strong,  Dwight. 

A.  L.  Cavan,  El  Paso.. 
James  M.  Eice,  Peoria. 
Samuel  Caldwell,  Peoria. 
John  S.  Lee,  Peoria. 

Oscar  F.  Price,  Galesburg. 
Jos.  F.  Latimer,  Abingdon. 
P.  H.  Sanford,  Knoxville. 

S.  T.  Shelton,  Monmouth. 
J.  T.  Morgan,  Monmouth. 
W.  A.  M.  Crouch,  Eozetta. 
S.  F.  Fleharty,  Swedonia. 
John  Morris,  Bock  Island. 

E.  H.  Johnston,  Port  Byron. 
Levi  North,  Kewanee. 

Jonas  W.  Olson,  Galva. 
Miles  A.  Fuller,  Toulon. 
Joseph  H.  Jones,  Henry. 
Joseph  Beinhardt,  Granville. 
Eobert  Hunter,  Tiskilwa. 

P.  F.  Eemsberg,  Limerick. 

G.  W.  Armstrong,  Seneca. 
Benj.  Edgecomb,  Utica. 
James  Clark,  Utica. 

H.  M.  Gallagher,  Peru. 
Phillip  Collins,  Morris. 

W.  E.  Hickox, . Kankakee. 
Calvin  H.  Frew,  Paxton. 

J.  H.  Daniels,  Wilmington. 
W.  S.  Brooks,  Joliet. 

Eobert  Clow,  E.  Wheatland. 
Henry  Sherrill,  Lisbon. 

W.  M.  Whitney,  Hinsdale. 
Anson  S.  Clark,  Elgin. 

J.  A.  Carpenter, Carpenterv’e. 
Wm.  H.  Miller,  Aurora. 

E.  M.  Pritchard,  Shabbona. 

L.  M.  McEwen,  DeKalb. 

N.  H.  Eyan,  Amboy. 

M.  J.  Braiden,  Bochelle. 

M.  W.  Smith,  Oregon. 
Jeremiah  Davis,  Beacon. 
Nathan  Williams,  Sterling. 
Dean  S.  Efner,  Albany. 
James  Shaw,  Mt.  Carroll. 


1 Resigned. 


Vice  E.  R.  Roe,  resigned. 


224 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


William  Cary,  Galena. 

H.  S.  Townsend,  Warren. 
Thos.  J.  Turner,  Freeport. 
Wm.  Massenberg,  Freeport. 
Jas.  M.  Wight,  Rockford. 

D.  Emmons  Adams,  Laona. 
Jesse  S.  Hildrup,  Belvidere. 
W.  A.  McConnell,  Richmond. 
Ira  R.  Curtis,  Marengo. 

W.  B.  Dodge,  Waukegan. 

E.  M.  Haines,  Waukegan. 
Henry  W.  Austin,  Chicago. 
Robert  H.  Foss,  Chicago. 
Jas.  L.  Campbell,  Chicago. 
Carlisle  Mason,  Chicago. 
Wiley  M.  Egan,  Chicago. 

R.  P.  Derriekson,  Chicago. 


John  D.  Easter,  Chicago. 
John  Humphrey,  Orland. 

A.  L.  Morrison,  Chicago. 
John  W.  Heafield,  Chicago. 
A.  J.  Galloway,  Chicago. 

H.  B.  Brayton,  Chicago. 
Simon  D.  Phelps,  Chicago. 
James  P.  Root,  Chicago. 
Wm.  H.  King,  Chicago. 
Arthur  Dixon,  Chicago. 
Horace  F.  Waite,  Chicago. 
R.  S.  Williamson,  Chicago. 
A.  H.  Burley,  Chicago. 
William  Yocke,  Chicago. 

W.  K.  Sullivan,  Chicago. 
Henry  C.  Senne,  DesPlains. 


This  was  the  largest  assembly  of  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives that  ever  convened  in  the  State  for  the  purpose 
of  enacting  laws.  There  were  fifty  Senators  and  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  Representatives.  The  Consti- 
tution of  1870  had  provided  for  this  representation. 


Lieutenant-Gov.  Dougherty  presided  over  the  Senate, 
and  E.  H.  Griggs  was  elected  Secretary,  over  J.  M. 
Davidson,  by  a vote  of  32  to  18. 

William  M.  Smith,  of  McLean,  was  elected  Speaker  of 
the  House,  over  William  R.  Morrison,  of  Monroe,  by  a 
vote  101  to  75,  and  Daniel  Shepard,  of  Cook,  Clerk, 
over  E.  L.  Merritt,  of  Sangamon,  by  a vote  of  101  to  75. 

The  Governor's  message  wras  laid  before  the  two  houses 
on  the  6th.  It  was  an  elaborate  and  able  State  paper, 


and  gave  attention  to  every  question  of  public  importance 
which  claimed  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature,  but 
he  discussed  at  length  the  legislation  necessary  to  bring 
into  full  force  and  effect  the  new  Constitution. 


At  this  session,  John  A.  Logan  wras  elected  United  States 
Senator,  to  succeed  Richard  Yates,  over  Thomas  J.  Turner, 
by  a vote  of  181  to  89. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


225 


The  labors  of  this  body  were,  indeed,  arduous.  The 
time  was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  enactment  of  laws  to  con- 
form to  the  new  Constitution. 

Fiest  Special  Session. 

Having  adjourned  without  making  the  needed  appropria- 
tions for  carrying  on  the  State  Government  and  continuing 
the  work  on  the  State  House,  the  Governor  convened  the 
General  Assembly  in  special  session  on  the  24th  of  May, 
and  after  discharging  the  duties  for  which  the  body  met,  a 
final  adjournment  was  taken  June  22. 

Second  Special  Session. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  1871,  a fire  broke  out  in  Chicago, 
which  laid  that  city  in  ashes  and  rendered  thousands  of  its 
citizens  helpless  and  homeless,  and  the  cry  for  help,  imme- 
diate help,  went  forth  broadcast  throughout  the  land.  Two 
days  after,  Governor  Palmer  issued  his  proclamation  con- 
vening the  Legislature  in  special  session  on  the  18th  of  Oc- 
tober. This  was  a great  emergency,  and  the  Governor  met 
it  boldly.  He  notified  all  the  members  through  the  medium 
of  the  telegraph,  and  within  three  days  after  the  proclama- 
tion they  were  in  their  seats  and  ready  for  business. 

The  Constitution  of  1870  had  forbidden  all  special  legis- 
lation, and  there  were  grave  doubts  in  the  minds  of  many 
members  as  to  the  power  of  the  Legislature  to  pass,  consti- 
tutionally, effective  laws  for  the  relief  of  the  city ; but  the 
Governor  issued  a stirring  message,  and  clearly  pointed  out 
the  way.  In  1865,  the  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  pro- 
viding for  the  completion  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
Canal  upon  the  plan  adopted  by  the  State  in  1886,  and 
entrusted  the  work  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  under  certain 
conditions,  restricting,  however,  the  expenditure  to  $2,500,- 
000,  which  was,  ultimately,  to  be  paid,  principal  and  inter- 
est, by  the  State.  In  this  work  Chicago  had  expended  the 
—15 


226  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

amount  limited  by  the  act  of  1865,  and  at  this  session  the 
General  Assembly  appropriated  a sum  sufficient  to  pay  to 
Chicago  the  principal  and  interest,  which  amounted,  in 
exact  figures,  to  $2,955,340,  on  the  payment  of  which 
the  canal  was  surrendered  to  the  management  of  the 
State.  This  measure  brought  relief  to  the  stricken  city. 

Adjourned  Session. 

The  regular  adjourned  session  of  this  assembly  convened 
November  15,  1871,  to  resume  the  labor  of  enacting  laws  to 
conform  with  the  new  Constitution,  and  continued  in  session 
until  April  9,  1872,  when  a sine  die  adjournment  was  taken. 

This  body  was  in  regular  session  250  days,  and  in  special 
session  42  days,  making  a total  of  292,  and  passed  laws 
covering  a volume  of  781  pages,  in  which  was  included 
almost  every  subject  of  legislation  contemplated  in  the  new 
Constitution.  The  duties  of  this  body  were,  perhaps,  more 
burdensome  and  difficult  than  those  of  any  Legislature 
which  has  ever  assembled  in  the  State,  but  they  were  per- 
formed with  fidelity  and  consummate  ability. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN— 1872. 


Formation  of  the  Liberal  Republican  Party— Great  Defection  in  the  Republi- 
can Party— Yates’  Cabinet  Deserts  the  Republican  Party— Yates  Stands 
by  the  “Silent  Soldier”— Lippincott  True  to  the  Republican  Party— Dis- 
solution of  the  New  Party— No  Democratic  Ticket— State  Campaign- 
Aggregate  Vote  for  State  Officers,  Members  of  Congress  and  Presidential 
Electors. 


In  1870,  Horace  Greeley,  through  his  paper,  the  New 
York  Tribune , strenuously  advocated  a more  lenient  policy 
on  the  part  of  the  National  Administration  toward  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


227 


States  which  had  lately  been  in  rebellion.  The  Republi- 
can party,  then  in  power  in  Missouri,  divided  on  the 
question  of  removing  from  the  Constitution  of  that  State 
the  clause  which  disfranchised  rebels.  Carl  Schurz  and 
B.  Gratz  Brown  led  the  faction  favoring  the  abrogation 
of  that  clause,  which  assumed  the  name  of  Liberal  Re- 
publicans. Mr.  Greeley  had  really  prepared  the  way  for 
the  formation  of  such  a party,  and  now  that  Missouri  had 
taken  the  initiatory  step,  it  was  not  long  before  the  new 
party  gained  followers  in  all  the  Northern  States;  and  in 
1872,  a National  convention  assembled  at  Cincinnati,  May 
1,  under  its  auspices,  and  nominated  Horace  Greeley  for 
President,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown  for  Vice-President. 

The  defection  in  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois  was 
very  general,  and  it  looked  at  the  outset  as  though  the 
new  organization  would  carry  both  the  State  and  National 
elections.  The  Liberal  faction  in  Illinois  was  led  by  such 
eminent  men  as  John  M.  Palmer,  Governor;  Newton  Bate- 
man, Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction;  Edward 
Rummel,  Secretary  of  State;  ex-Lieut. -Gov.  Francis  A. 
Hoffman ; ex-Lieut. -Gov.  Wm.  Bross ; ex-Lieut. -Gov.  Gus- 
tavus  Koerner;  ex-Secretary  of  State,  0.  M.  Hatch;  ex- 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Jesse  K.  Dubois;  ex- Auditor 
of  Public  Accounts,  0.  H.  Miner;  ex- Attorney-General, 
Washington  Bushnell;  ex-kjUate  Treasurer,  Wm.  Butler; 
ex-Congressman  from  the  State-at-Large,  S.  W.  Moulton; 
ex-Congressman,  John  Wentworth;  ex-U.  S.  Marshal,  D. 
L.  Phillips;  ex-U.  S.  District  Attorney,  Lawrence  Weldon; 
Judge  David  Davis,  Leonard  Swett,  Senator  Lyman 
Trumbull,  and  last,  though  not  least,  the  Chicago  Tribune . 
Edward  Rummel  was  nominated  by  the  Liberals  for  Sec- 
retary of  State,  and  Wm.  Bross  as  one  of  the  electors 
from  the  State-at-Large,  and  D.  L.  Phillips,  who  was 
then  one  of  the  chief  owners  of  the  State  Journal , as  a 
district  elector. 


228 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


There  were  many  other  prominent  Republicans,  who  had 
been  honored  with  places  of  distinction  by  the  party,  who 
joined  in  this  movement,  but  these  names  will  suffice  to 
show  that  the  schism  was  great  and  alarming  even  to  the 
most  stout-hearted  Eepublican.  It  will  be  observed  that 
all  the  State  officers  who  made  up  the  cabinet  when 
Richard  Yates  was  Governor,  joined  the  fortunes  of  this 
new  party,  while  Yates  himself  stood  firm  as  a rock  by 
the  old  party  and  the  “silent  soldier”  whose  first  com- 
mission in  the  war  he  issued;  and  Gen.  C.  E.  Lippincott, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  was  the  only  member  of  the 
then  Republican  State  Government  who  boldly  declared 
himself  willing  to  stand  or  fall  by  adhering  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  he  wrote  a stirring  letter,  under  date  of 
April  24,  1872,  to  Wm.  Murry,  of  Virginia,  Cass  county, 
in  reply  to  the  question  as  to  the  course  that  should  be 
pursued  by  his  old  war  comrades  in  the  crisis.  We  give 
place  to  a brief  extract  from  this  letter: 

“I  answer  briefly,  because  my  time  is  fully  occupied, 
but  plainly,  that  my  old  comrades  may  clearly  under- 
stand me,  that  I am  for  the  Republican  party  and  its 
nominees  for  the  Presidency  at  Philadelphia.  I see  no 
abuses  in  the  Republican  party  which  it  is  not  fully  able 
and  willing  to  correct.  The  record  of  that  party  is  the 
proudest  part  of  modern  history.  Its  end  cannot  have 
approached,  when  nothing  is  arrayed  against  it  but  a 
threatened  assault  from  a coalition  of  men  of  every  pos- 
sible political  creed  and  character,  held  together  by  the 
single  tie  of  a universal  wish  to  get  into  the  offices  of 
the  government.  I have  no  criticisms  to  make  upon  the 
course  of  others,  and  trust  that  I have  made  my  own 
position  clear  to  you  and  to  those  for  whom  you  write.” 
(See  file  Daily  State  Register , May,  1872.) 

The  Republican  party  met  in  Philadelphia,  June  5th,  and 
renominated  Gen.  Grant  for  President,  without  opposition, 
and  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President. 

The  Democratic  party  met  in  National  Convention  at 
Baltimore,  on  the  9th  of  July,  and  nominated  Greeley  and 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


229 


Brown.  Mr.  Greeley  having  been  an  early  Abolitionist  and 
one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  his 
nomination  was  not  accepted  as  satisfactory  by  the  entire 
Democratic  party  of  the  country,  and  a convention  of 
what  was  termed  the  “ Straight-out  ” Democrats  met  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  September  3,  and  nominated  Charles 
O’Connor,  of  New  York,  for  President,  and  John  Q.  Adams, 
of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President.  These  nominations 
were  declined. 

The  contest  in  Illinois  was  waged  with  great  vigor  on 
all  sides,  and  many  believed  that  the  State  would  be  car- 
ried by  the  Liberal  party,  but  when  the  returns  of  the 
election  came  in  it  was  shown  that  Grant  and  Wilson  had 
received  241,944;  Greeley  and  Brown,  184,938;  O’Connor 
and  Adams,  3,058.  Grant’s  majority  over  all  was  53,948. 

In  the  United  States,  Grant  and  Wilson  received,  of  the 
popular  vote,  3,597,070;  Greeley  and  Brown,  2,834,079; 
O’Connor  and  Adams,  29,408;  Black,  Temperance,  5,608. 
The  majority  of  Grant  and  Wilson  over  all  was  727,975. 
Of  the  electoral  vote,  Grant  and  Wilson  received  286. 
Horace  Greeley  having  died  in  the  meantime,  the  electoral 
vote  of  the  Liberal  party  was  cast  as  follows : For  Pres- 
ident, T.  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  42;  B.  Gratz  Brown, 
18;  C.  J.  Jenkins,  of  Georgia,  2;  D.  Davis,  of  Illinois,  1; 
For  Vice-President,  Brown  received  47 ; G.  W.  Julian,  of 
Indiana,  5 ; A.  H.  Colquitt,  of  Georgia,  5 ; J.  M.  Palmer, 
of  Illinois,  3;  T.  E.  Bramlette,  of  Kentucky,  3;  W.  S. 
Groesbeck,  of  Ohio,  1 ; W.  B.  Macher,  of  Kentucky,  1 ; 
N.  P.  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  1. 

Messrs.  Palmer,  Koerner,  Trumbull  and  Moulton  have 
since  affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party,  while  Mr.  Davis 
has  been  an  Independent,  but  all  the  other  gentlemen 
returned  to  the  Republican  fold  before  another  Presiden- 
tial campaign. 


230 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


State  Campaign. 

This  campaign  was  of  the  most  momentous  charac- 
ter; by  it  was  to  be  determined  whether  the  Republican 
party,  which  had  guided  the  State  and  the  Nation  in  the' 
perilous  times  of  war,  should  be  set  aside,  and  a new 
party  take  its  place.  For  the  time  being  the  Democratic 
party  did  not  array  itself  as  a party  against  the  Repub- 
lican party,  but  united  with  the  Liberal  Republican  party. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  Republicans  did  not  enter 
the  campaign  with  the  brightest  hopes  of  success;  but 
they  nominated  a strong  ticket,  and  made  a bold  and 
aggressive  fight.  R.  J.  Oglesby,  who  had  led  the  party  to 
victory  in  1864,  was  nominated  without  opposition,  for 
Governor;  John  L.  Beveridge,  for  Lieutenant-Governor; 
George  H.  Harlow,  for  Secretary  of  State;  C.  E.  Lippin- 
oott,  for  Auditor;  Edward  Rutz,  for  Treasurer,  and  James 
K.  Edsall  for  Attorney-General. 

The  Liberal  Republicans  nominated  Gustavus  Koerner, 
Republican,  for  Governor;  J.  C.  Black,  Democrat,  for 
Lieutenant-Governor;  Edward  Rummel,  Republican,  and 
the  incumbent  of  the  office,  for  Secretary  of  State ; Daniel 
O’Harra,  Democrat,  for  Auditor ; C.  H.  Lanphier,  Democrat, 
for  Treasurer,  and  John  Y.  Eustace  for  Attorney-General. 

The  Liberal  Republican  State  ticket  was  regarded  as 
being  exceedingly  strong;  it  was  believed  that  the  names 
of  Koerner  and  Rummel  would  insure  for  it  the  German 
vote,  and  that  the  equal  division  of  the  offices  between 
Democrats  and  Republicans  would  surely  give  the  new 
party  a sufficient  following  to  carry  the  State.  The  battle 
between  the  old  and  the  new  party  was  opened  with  a 
zeal  and  bitterness  that  had  never  before  been  witnessed, 
but  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  nomination  of  Greeley 
had  greatly  displeased  many  of  the  life-long  leaders  of 
the  Democratic  party,  who  openly  opposed  the  election  of 
the  Liberal  ticket,  and  either  voted  for  the  Republican 
ticket  or  refrained  from  voting  at  all. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


231 


The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  members  of  Con- 
gress and  Presidential  electors  is  as  follows: 

Governor. 

Richard  J.  Oglesby,  R 237,774 

Gustavus  Kcerner,  L.  R 197,084 

B.  G.  Wright 2,185 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

John  L.  Beveridge  R 235,101 

J.  C.  Black  D 199,767 

D.  S.  Starr 2,459 

Secretary  of  State. 

George  H.  Harlow,  R 241,435 

Edward  Rummel,  L.  R 193,493 

E.  Sutton . .2,372 

Auditor. 

C.  E.  Lippincott,  R 241,498 

D.  O’Hara,  L.  R 192,708 

C.  H.  Westerman 2,459 

Treasurer. 

Edward  Rutz,  R 242,686 

C.  H.  Lanphier,  L.  R 191,806 

Henry  West 2,509 

Attorney-General. 

J.  K.  Edsall,  R 240,731 

John  V.  Eustace,  L.  R 191,897 

George  A.  Meech 2,467 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

John  B.  Rice,  R 12,870 

Lucien  B.  Otis,  D 7,235 

Second  District. 

Jasper  D.  Ward,  R 12,182 

C.  H.  Harrison,  D 8,873 


232  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Third  District. 

Charles  B.  Farwell,  R 9,202' 

John  V.  LeMoyne,  D 4,962 

Fourth  District. 

Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  R 15,532 

Seymour  G.  Bronson,  D 5,134 

Fifth  District. 

Horatio  C.  Burchard,  R 14,036 

James  Dinsmoor,  D 7,538 

Sixth  District. 

John  B.  Hawley,  R 13,123 

Calvin  Truesdale,  D 7,215> 

Seventh  District. 

Franklin  Corwin,  R 12,404 

G.  D.  A.  Barks,  D 8,298 

Eighth  District. 

Greenbury  L.  Fort,  R 13,401 

George  0.  Barnes,  D 8,304 

Ninth  District. 

Granville  Barriere,  R 12,600 

N.  C.  Worthington,  D 10,799 

Tenth  District. 

William  H.  Ray,  R 12,962 

William  H.  Neece,  D 11,897 

Eleventh  District. 

Robert  M.  Knapp,  D 13,818 

Asa  C.  Matthews,  R 10,939' 

Twelfth  District. 

James  C.  Robinson,  D 13,234 

M.  H.  Chamberlin,  R 12,311 

Thirteenth  District. 

John  McNulta,  R 13,496 

Clifton  H.  Moore,  I 10,850 

L.  L.  Leads 344 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


283 


Fourteenth  District. 


Joseph  G.  Cannon,  R 15,161 

William  Melson,  D 11,405 

Fifteenth  District. 

John  R.  Eden,  D 14,653 

George  Hunt,  R 12,298 


Sixteenth  District. 

James  S.  Martin,  R 

Silas  L.  Bryan,  D 

Seventeenth  District. 

William  R.  Morrison,  D 

John  B.  Hay,  R 

Eighteenth  District. 

Isaac  Clements,  R 

George  W.  Wall,  D 

Nineteenth  District. 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 

Green  B.  Raum,  R 

Electors — Grant. 

Henry  Greenbaum 

David  T.  Linegar 

Chauncey  T.  Bowen 

Lester  L.  Bond 

Mahlon  D.  Ogden 

Richard  L.  Divine 

James  Shaw 

Norman  H.  Ryan 

Irus  Coy 

Joseph  J.  Cassell 

William  Seldon  Gale 

William  D.  Henderson 

Moses  M.  Bane 

George  A.  Sanders 

Hugh  Fullerton 

Martin  B.  Thompson.  

Jacob  W.  Wilkin 

John  P.  Yan  Dorstan 

John  I.  Rinaker 

John  Dougherty 

William  H.  Robinson 


12,266 

12,016 


13,215 

11,316 


12,999 

11,478 


13,297 

11,282- 


....241,237 


284 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


Greeley. 

William  Bross 

John  D.  Caton 

Thomas  Hoyne 

Charles  C.  P.  Holden 

Arno  Yoss 

Isaac  W.  Swaim 

Robert  C.  BurchelL 

Eric  Johnson 

Caspar  Bntz 

Stephen  R.  Moore 

Martin  Shallenberger 

George  Edmunds,  Jr 

William  Stein wedell 

David  L.  Phillips 

Samuel  C.  Parks 

John  Cunningham 

John  N.  Gwin 

George  L.  Zuik 

John  Hinchcliffe 

Benjamin  W.  Sharp 

Franklin  Pierce... 


V ....184,772 


O’Connor. 

Isaac  R.  Diller ' 

David  Runion 

Wm.  S.  Searles 

Abram  Braisted 

William  Hanley 

Jacob  Sharp 

James  M.  Duncan. . . 

John  Culbertson 

John  W.  Hill 

John  Moran 

Hezekiah  M.  Wead [> 

Thomas  Clawry 

Frank  Yromer 

William  H.  Yan  Epps 

Samuel  L.  Kerr. . . . j 

James  W.  Davidson 

Jacob  Epler 

William  T.  French 

James  B.  Smith 

Henry  G.  Carter 

L.  M.  De  Motte 


8,138 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


235 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1873. 


Governor— John  L.  Beveridge. 

President  of  Senate  and  Acting  Lieut. -Gov. — Jno.  Early. 

Secretary  of  State — George  H.  Harlow. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — C.  E.  Lippincott. 

Treasurer — Edward  Butz. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Newton  Bateman. 

Attorney-General — James  K.  Edsall. 

Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly — First  Session. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twenty-eighth  General  Assem- 
bly convened  January  8,  and  adjourned  May  6,  until  Jan- 
uary 8,  1874.  The  Assembly  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing members: 


Senate. 

Jos.  S.  Reynolds,  Chicago.  Almon  S.  Palmer,  Onarga. 
R.  S.  Thompson,  Chicago.  Elmer  Baldwin,  Farm  Ridge. 
Miles  Kehoe,  Chicago.  Jas.  G.  Strong,  Dwight. 
Samuel  K.  Dow,  Chicago.  L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 

J.  McGrath,  Chicago.  Edward  A.  Wilcox,  Minonk. 

Horace  F.  Waite,  Chicago.  W.  H.  Shepard,  Cambridge. 
R.  S.  Williamson,  Chicago.  P.  H.  Sanford,  Knoxville. 
Clark  W.  Upton,  Waukegan.  Benj.  R.  Hampton,  Macomb. 
John  Early,  Rockford.  Benj.  Warren,  LaHarpe. 
Henry  Green,  Elizabeth.  S.  P.  Cummings,  Astoria. 
Jos.  M.  Patterson,  Sterling.  John  S.  Lee,  Peoria. 

Geo.  P.  Jacobs,  Oregon.  A.  B.  Nicholson,  Lincoln. 
Miles  B.  Castle,  Sandwich.  John  Cusey,  Downs. 

Eugene  Canfield,  Aurora.  Michael  Donahue,  Clinton. 
Wm.  S.  Brooks,  Joliet.  J.  C.  Sheldon,  Urbana. 


236 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


John  C.  Short,  Danville.  John  H.  Yager,  Alton. 
Charles  B.  Steele,  Mattoon.  Geo.  Gundlach,  Carlyle. 
Charles  Yoris,  Windsor.  John  Cunningham,  Salem.. 
W.  B.  Hundley,  Taylorville.  Geo.  W.  Henry,  Louisville- 
Alex.  Starne,  Springfield.  W.  J.  Crews,  Lawrenceville. 
A.  A.  Glenn,  Mt.  Sterling.  Thos.  S.  Casey,  Mt.  Vernon. 
Geo.  W.  Burns,1  Quincy.  F.  M.  Youngblood,  Benton. 
Maurice  Kelly,2  Liberty.  W.  K.  Murphy,  Pinckneyv’le. 
Wm.  B.  Archer,  Pittsfield.  John  HinchcJiffe,  Belleville. 
Wm.  Brown,  Jacksonville.  Jesse  Ware,  Jonesboro. 
Beatty  T.  Burke,  Carlinville.  C.  M.  Ferrell,  Elizabethtown.. 

House  of  Representatives. 


Jas.  B.  Bradwell,  Chicago. 
John  A.  Lomax,  Chicago. 
Wm.  Wayman,  Chicago. 

S.  P.  Hopkins,  Chicago. 
Frank  T.  Sherman,  Chicago. 
Charles  G.  Wicker,  Chicago. 

E.  F.  Cullerton,  Chicago. 
Constantine  Kann,  Chicago. 
Thos.  M.  Halpin,  Chicago. 
John  F.  Scanlon,  Chicago. 
Thos.  E.  Ferrier,  Chicago. 
Wm.  H.  Condon,  Chicago. 
Wm.  A.  Herting,  Chicago. 
Ingwell  Oleson,  Chicago. 
Hugh  McLaughlin,  Chicago. 
Otto  Peltzer,  Chicago. 

John  M.  Rountree,  Chicago. 
Geo.  E.  Washburn,  Chicago. 
Daniel  Booth,  Chicago. 

C.  H.  Dolton,  Dolton  Stat’n. 
H.  C.  Senne,  Des  Plaines. 
Richard  Bishop,  McHenry. 

F.  K.  Granger,  McHenry. 
Elisha  Gridley,  Half  Day. 
Robert  J.  Cross,3  Roscoe. 
Jesse  S.  Hildrup,  Belvidere 
Duncan  J.  Stewart,  Durand, 

Richard  F.  Crawford,4  

E.  L.  Cronkrite,  Freeport. 
Alfred  M.  Jones,  Warren. 


James  S.  Taggart,  Ridott. 
James  Shaw,  Mt.  Carroll. 

J.  E.  McPherran,  Sterling- 
Dean  S.  Efner,  Albany. 
Isaac  Rice,  Mt.  Morris. 
Henry  D.  Dement,  Dixon. 
Frederick  H.  Marsh,  Oregon. 
Lyman  B.  Ray,  Morris. 

G.  M.  Hollenback,  Milbrook. 
Perry  A.  Armstrong,  Morris. 
Sylvester  S.  Mann,  Elgin. 

J. A. Carpenter,  Carp’nt’rsv’le. 
James  Herrington,  Geneva. 
Amos  Savage,  Lockport. 

Jno.  S.  Jessup,  Wilmington. 
Jabez  Harvey,  Joliet. 

M.  J.  Sheridan,  Momence. 
E.  B.  Collins,  Momence. 
Thos.  S.  Sawyer,  Chebanse. 
Lewis  Soule,  Ottawa. 

Joseph  Hart,  Earlville. 

Geo.  W.  Armstrong,  Seneca. 
J.  P.  Middlecoff,  Paxton. 
Lucien  Bullard,  Forrest. 
John  Pollock,  Paxton. 

J.  R.  Mulvane,  Princeton. 
Cyrus  Bocock,  Castleton. 
Mark  R.  Dewey,  Ohio. 
Dwight  J.  Webber,  Minonk. 
Nathaniel  Moore,  Wenona. 


designed  September  20,  1878, 
2 Flee  George  W.  Burns. 


3Died. 

4Fice  Robert  J.  Cross,  died. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


237 


J.  G.  Freeman,  Snachwine. 
Wilder  W.  Warner,  Orion. 

E.  H.  Johnson,  Pt.  Byron. 
Chas.  Dunham,  Geneseo. 

A.  J.  Streator,  New  Windsor. 
Geo.  P.  Graham,  Aledo. 

J.  S.  Chambers,  Altoona. 
Wm.  A.  Grant,  Monmouth. 

J.  E.  Jackson,  Colchester. 

E.  K.  Westfall,  Bushnell. 
Wm.  Scott,  DallasCity. 

D.  Rankin,  Biggs ville. 
Edward  E.  Lane,  Warsaw. 

S.  Y.  Thornton,  Canton. 
John.  A.  Grey,  Lewiston. 

J.  M.  Darneli,  Pleasantview. 
Julius  S.  Starr,  Peoria. 
Michael  C.  Quinn,  Peoria. 
Ezra  G.  Webster,  Elmore. 
Laban  M.  Stroud,  Atlanta. 
Peter  J.  Hawes,  Atlanta. 

H.  W.  Snow,  Washington. 

A.  E.  Stewart,  Heyworth. 

T.  P.  Rogers,  Bloomington. 
John  Cassedy,  Lexington. 
Job  A.  Race,  Decatur. 
Tilman  Lane,  Clinton. 

Wm.  T.  Moffett,  Decatur. 
John  Penfield,  Rantoul. 

C.  P.  Davis,  Monticello. 

F.  E.  Bryant,  Bement. 

Willis  0.  Pinnell,  Paris. 
Henri  B.  Bishop,  Paris. 
Jacob  H.  Oakwood,  Catlin. 
Wm.  T.  Sylvester,1  Areola. 

J.  A.  Freeland,  Sullivan. 

J.  A.  Connolly,  Charleston. 
Joseph  H.  Ewing,2  Areola. 
W.  H.  McDonald,  Majority  Pt 
W.  H.  Blakely,  Effingham. 
Benson  Wood,  Effingham. 

J.  M.  Truitt,  Hillsboro. 


H.  P.  Shumway,  Taylorville. 
E.  J.  C.  Alexander,  Hillsboro. 
A.  Orendorff,  Springfield. 
Milton  Hay,  Springfield. 

S.  M.  Cullom,  Springfield. 

H.  H.  Moose,  Havana, 

Wm.  W.  Easley,  Virginia. 

N.  W.  Branson,  Petersburg. 
Chas.  Ballou,  Clayton. 
Nehemiah  Bushnell,3  Quincy. 
Ira  M.  Moore,  Quincy. 

J.  Tilson,4  and5,  Quincy. 
Albert  J.  Griffith.6 

M.  D.  Massey,  Pleasant  Yale 
Stephen  G.  Lewis,  Hardin. 
Henry  Dresser,  Naples. 

J.  B.  Nulton,  Carrollton. 

J.  W.  Meacham,  Waverly. 

J.  Gordon,  Lynnville. 

Wm,  McAdams,  Jerseyville. 
J.  Plowman,  Yirden. 

A.  L.  Virden,  Yirden. 

H.  Weinheimer,  Highland. 
Benj.  R.  Hite,  Collinsville. 

T.  T.  Ramey,  Collinsville. 
Fred.  A.  Lietze,  Carlyle. 

C.  D.  Hoiles,  Greenville. 

A.  G.  Henry,  Greenville. 

N.  B.  Morrison,  Odin. 

Chas.  G.  Smith,  Yandalia. 
Ziba.  S.  Swan,5  Yandalia. 
Alfred  P.  Crosly.7 

I.  N.  Jaquess,  Mt.  Carmel. 
R.  T.  Forth,  Keenville. 

D.  W.  Barkley,  Fairfield. 

J.  L.  Flanders,  Olive. 

Thos.  J.  Golden,  Marshall. 
H.  Alexander,  Robinson. 

L.  Walker,  McLeansboro. 

R.  S.  Anderson,  M’Leansboro 
Patrick  Dolan,  Enfield. 

J.  G.  Newton,  Marion. 


‘Removed. 

2 Vice  Wm.  T.  Sylvester,  removed. 

3Died. 

4 Vice  Nehemiah  Bushnell,  deceased. 


6Resigned. 

• Vice  John  Tillson,  resigned. 
7 Vice  Ziba  S.  Swan,  resigned. 


288 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


J.  E.  Loomis,  Shawneetown.  S.  M.  Kase,2  Belleville. 


W.  A.  Lemma,  Carbondale. 
Matthew  J.  Inscore,  Anna, 
John  H.  Oberly,  Cairo. 
James  L.  Wymore,  Vienna. 
F.  M.  McGee,  Reynoldsburg. 
N.  E.  Casey,  Mound  City. 


S.  M.  Mitchell,  Corinth. 

J.  W.  Piatt,  Cutler. 

Wm.  Neville,  Chester. 

Austin  James,  Mitchie. 

B.  Wick,1  Belleville. 

L.  H.  Hite,  East  St.  Louis. 

John  Thomas,  Belleville. 

D.  A.  Eay,  of  McLean,  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Sen- 
ate over  W.  H.  Mantz,  of  Jefferson,  by  a vote  of  88  to  17. 

In  the  House,  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  of  Sangamon,  was 
elected  Speaker,  over  Newton  R.  Casey,  of  Pulaski,  by  a 
vote  of  86  to  66,  and  Daniel  Shepard,  of  Cook,  Clerk, 
over  Johsua  L.  Marsh,  of  Cook,  by  a vote  of  86  to  61. 

Gov.  Palmer,  the  outgoing  Executive,  presented  his  mes- 
sage to  the  two  houses  on  the  9fch,  in  which  he  invited 
attention  to  the  evidences  of  prosperity  in  the  State,  and 
referred  with  pride  and  pleasure  to  the  disposition  of  the 
people  to  bear,  without  complaint,  the  burdens  of  taxa- 
tion for  the  education  of  the  masses,  and  for  caring  for 
the  afflicted  and  helpless.  To  the  question  of  State  con- 
trol of  railroads,  he  gave  careful  consideration,  and  pointed 
out  an  intelligent  and  just  remedy  for  the  evils  of  which 
the  people  complained ; the  needs  of  the  State  institutions 
and  all  subjects  affecting  the  immediate  welfare  of  the 
people  Tvere  discussed  with  manly  candor,  and  many  wise 
and  judicious  recommendations  indulged  in.  During 
his  administration  the  State  debt  was  reduced  $4,111,- 
071.92,  and  there  had  been  paid  Chicago  $1,128,309.68 
onaccountof  canal  improvement.  Total,  $5,239,381.60. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Palmer  was  wise  and  able, 
yet  laborious  and  trying.  The  office  had  come  to  him 
unsought.  The  Republican  party  nominated  him  for  Gov- 
ernor in  the  face  of  the  repeated  declarations  that  he  did 
not  seek  or  desire  the  honor,  and  he  was  triumphantly 
, elected,  and  went  into  power  with  the  hearty  approval  of 


designed. 


2 Vice  Bernard  Wiok,  Resigned. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


289 


his  party,  but  his  first  annual  message  gave  the  leaders 
of  that  party  great  offense.  He  had  been  from  his  youth 
an  outspoken  anti-slavery  man,  yet  he  was  a firm  believer 
in  State  rights,  and  his  message  was  strongly  impregnated 
with  that  doctrine.  This  gave  great  displeasure  to  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Republican  party.  When  Chicago  was  burnt, 
a conflict  arose  between  the  State  and  National  Adminis- 
trations as  to  their  respective  duties  in  that  great  emer- 
gency, Gov.  Palmer  contending  that  the  State  was  able 
to  preserve  order,  and  protect  the  property  of  its  citizens, 
and  that  the  National  authority,  if  exercised  at  all,  was 
to  be  subordinate  to  State  authority.  These  emphatic 
declarations  brought  the  Governor  in  open  conflict  with 
his  party  leaders,  and  before  the  close  of  his  Administra- 
tion he  found  himself  allied  to  a new  party,  the  Liberal 
Republican;  and  in  justification  of  his  acts,  as  Governor, 
in  closing  his  last  message,  he  said: 

“I  am  not  willing  to  close  this  communication  and  my 
official  connection  with  the  government,  without  express- 
ing something  of  my  gratitude  to  the  people  for  the  honor 
conferred  upon  me  with  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  State. 
No  one  is  more  conscious  than  I am,  that  in  the  neces- 
sarily active  share  I have  taken  in  the  varied  affairs  of 
this  great  commonwealth  I have,  in  the  judgment  of  some, 
committed  mistakes ; but  I have,  in  all  my  official  acts, 
been  governed  by  my  own  convictions  of  duty,  only  anx- 
ious that  the  free  people  of  the  State,  to  whose  candid 
judgment  alone  I am  responsible,  should  fully  understand 
my  conduct  and  its  reasons  and  motives,  and  then  decide 
to  approve,  or  relieve  themselves  from  the  consequences  of 
what  they  may  regard  as  my  mistakes  by  selecting  a 
citizen  for  my  successor  who  will  avoid  any  error  they 
may  think  I have  committed. 

“ During  my  administration  of  the  government  of  the 
State,  I have  steadily  acted  upon  political  principles  that 
I have  always  cherished  as  being  essential  to  the  well 
being  of  my  countrymen.  I have  never  faltered  in  the 
assertion  of  the  rights  of  all  men  to  liberty.  Habitually 
distrustful  of  power,  I have  insisted  upon  subjecting  all 
claims  of  a right  to  govern  the  people  or  to  exercise  any 


240 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


authority  over  them  to  the  test  of  the  Constitution,  and 
I have  never  willingly  submitted  to  any  pretension  of  any 
person  claiming  power  to  act  under  the  authority  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  unless  the  power  claimed 
was  found  to  have  been  expressly  granted,  or  was  neces- 
sarily implied  in  some  grant  of  power  contained  in  the 
Federal  Constitution.  And  when  the  authority  sought  to 
be  exercised  has  been  claimed  under  a State,  I have  as 
earnestly  sought  to  know  that  it  was  not  comprehended 
within  some  power  the  people  of  the  State  have,  by  their 
Constitution,  reserved  to  themselves  or  forbidden  to  be 
exercised  by  others.  I have,  at  all  times,  regarded  it  as 
amongst  my  solemn  duties  to  obey  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  aid  in  defending  the  government 
created  by  that  instrument,  in  the  exercise  of  all  its  just 
powers,  nor  have  I felt  that  my  duty  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  originated  in  my  official 
oath  to  do  so. 

“ My  duties  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  be- 
gan with  my  birth,  and  have  never  been  forgotten  nor 
neglected,  and  my  unalterable  purpose  to  discharge  those 
duties  has  the  support  of  my  judgment  and  my  affections, 
and  I have  felt  under  the  most  solemn  of  earthly  obliga- 
tions to  obey  and  defend  and  support  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  to  enforce  the  laws  of 
the  State  against  all  who  might  offend  against  them.  I 
need  not  say  that  the  duty  of  obeying  and  defending  the 
laws  of  the  State  has  the  support  of  my  most  earnest 
convictions — for  the  preservation  of  the  just  authority  of 
the  States  is  essential  to  the  perpetuity  and  usefulness  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  the  mainten- 
ance of  both  is  essential  to  that  which  is  more  precious 
than  either — the  liberties  of  the  people.” 

The  best  compliment  that  can  be  paid  to  the  admin- 
istration of  Governor  Palmer  is  to  say  that  he  alone 
was  responsible  for  it.  While  he  was  not  a discreet 
party  man,  yet  he  was  a good  Governor;  he  magnified 
and  enlarged  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Executive 
office,  and  thereby  elevated  and  dignified  its  character. 
Under  the  Constitution  of  1848,  the  laws  had  become 
strained  or  lax.  The  necessities  of  the  State  in  war 
times  had  caused  the  law-makers  to  overlook,  in  many 
instances,  the  written  letter  of  that  instrument,  and  when 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


241 


it  became  necessary  to  revise  the  laws  under  the  Constitution 
of  1870,  implicit  care  was  not  taken  to  keep  within  its  limits, 
and  Governor  Palmer  was  kept  busy  in  the  discussion  of 
constitutional  questions.  In  the  session  of  1869,  he  vetoed 
as  many  as  one  hundred  and  twelve  acts  on  constitutional 
grounds.  It  became  a by-word  with  members,  when  a 
constitutional  question  was  raised  against  the  passage  of 
a bill,  to.say:  “We  will  not  discuss  the  question  here; 
if  there  is  anything  unconstitutional  in  the  bill  Governor 
Palmer  will  find  it  out.” 

Governor  Oglesby  was  inaugurated  on  the  18th  of  Jan- 
uary, and  delivered  a brief  address,  in  which  he  took 
occasion  to  discuss,  with  feeling  and  freedom,  National 
questions,  and  pointed  with  satisfaction  to  the  proud  po- 
sition Illinois  occupied  in  the  National  Union. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  Governor  Oglesby  was  elected 
(United  States  Senator,  over  Lyman  Trumbull,  by  a vote 
of  117  to  78,  and  on  the  23d  resigned  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor, when  Lieutenant-Governor  Beveridge  became  Gov- 
ernor, and  Senator  Early,  who  had  been  elected  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  acting  Lieutenant-Governor. 

The  General  Assembly  remained  in  session  until  May 
6,  when  a recess  was  taken  until  January  6,  1874. 

The  more  important  acts  which  were  passed  by  this 
Assembly  and  received  the  approval  of  the  Governor, 
were  as  follows : Acts  to  reorganize  agricultural  socie- 
ties ; to  authorize  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners 
to  construct  a dam  and  lock  at  or  near  Copperas 
Creek;  to  make  appropriation  to  continue  the  work 
on  the  new  State  House ; to  amend  an  act  to  provide  for 
the  incorporation  of  cities  and  villages ; to  amend  the 
election  laws;  to  amend  an  act  entitled  “an  act  to  pro- 
vide for  the  incorporation  of  associations  for  conducting 
and  maintaining  railways ;”  to  amend  an  act  entitled  “an 
—16 


242 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


act  to  regulate  public  warehouses  and  the  warehousing 
and  inspection  of  grain,”  and  for  the  appropriation  of 
moneys  necessary  to  carry  on  the  State  Government  and 
its  institutions. 


CHAPTER  XXXI, 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1874, 


The  Liberal  Republican  party  ceased  as  a State  or  Na- 
tional organization  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1872, 
and  on  its  ruins  was  formed  in  this  State  the  Anti-Mo- 
nopoly party,  which  met  in  convention  at  Springfield, 
June  10,  1874,  and  nominated  David  Gore  for  Treasurer, 
and  S.  M.  Etter  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

The  Republican  party  met  in  convention  at  Springfield, 
June  17,  and  nominated  Thomas  S.  Ridgway  for  Treas- 
urer, and  Wm.  B.  Powell  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

The  Democrats,  in  the  meantime,  had  reorganized,  and 
they  met  August  26,  and  nominated  Charles  Carroll  for 
Treasurer,  and  S.  M.  Etter  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

There  was  little  or  no  general  canvass  of  the  State,  and  the 
people  were  left  to  vote  without  much  direction  from  party 
leaders.  The  nomination  of  Mr.  Etter  by  the  Democrats 
had  given  him  a clear  field  against  Mr.  Powell,  the  Re- 
publican nominee,  and  the  result  was  that  while  Mr. 
Ridgway  was  elected  by  a plurality  of  34,805  over  Mr.  Car- 
roll,  Mr.  Powell  was  defeated  by  a majority  of  30,506. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers  and  members  of 
Congress,  is  as  follows : 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  248 

Treasurer. 

Thomas  S.  Ridgway,  R 162,974 

Charles  Carroll,  D 128,169 

David  Gore,  A.  M 75,580 

J.  F.  Simpson 582 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Samuel  M.  Etter,  D.  and  A.  M 197,490 

Wm.  B.  Powell,  R 166,984 

Mrs.  A.  F.  Potter 619 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Bernard  G.  Caulfield,  D 10,211 

Sidney  Smith,  R 9,808 

Second  District. 

Carter  H.  Harrison,  D 9,189 

Jasper  D.  Ward,  R 9,181 

Third  District. 

Charles  B.  Farwell,  R 8,177 

John  V.  Le  Moyne,  D 7,991 

F.  A.  Hoffman,  Jr . ... . 189 

Fourth  District. 

Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  R 9,326 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  Ind.  R 8,167 

Fifth  District. 

Horatio  C.  Burchard,  R 9,232 

Daniel  J.  Pinkney,  D., 7,008 

Sixth  District. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  R 9,390 

Isaac  H.  Elliott.  I.  R 6,299 

Seventh  District. 

Alexander  Campbell,  G.  B 10,308 

Franklin  Corwin,  R 7,905 

Eighth  District. 

Greenbury  L.  Fort,  R 8,753 

J.  G.  Bayne,  D 7,463 


244 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Ninth  District. 

Richard  H.  Whiting,  R 9,755 

Leonard  F.  Ross,  D 9,495 

Tenth  District. 

John  C.  Bagby,  D 9,784 

Henderson  Richey,  R 8,824 

Eleventh  District. 

Scott  Wike,  D 11,489 

David  Beatty,  R 7,429 

Twelfth  District. 

Wm.  M.  Springer,  D 10,623 

Andrew  Simpson,  R 9,027 

J.  B.  Turner 2,417 

Thirteenth  District. 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  G.  B 11,135 

John  McNulta,  R 9,903 

Geo.  W.  Minier 130 

Fourteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  R 11,244 

James  H.  Pickrell,  I 10,603 

Fifteenth  District. 

John  R.  Eden,  D 12,084 

Jacob  W.  Wilkin  . R 10,789 

Sixteenth  District. 

W.  A.  J.  Sparks,  D 8,723 

James  S.  Martin,  R 7,932 

Rolla  B.  Henry,  G.  B 4,023 

Seventeenth  District. 

Wm.  R.  Morrison,  D 13,086 

John  I.  Rinaker,  R.  8,438 

Eighteenth  District. 

William  Hartzell,  D 10,866 

Isaac  Clements,  R 9,280 

Nineteenth  District. 

William  B.  Anderson,  G.  B 8,293 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  D 7,556 

Green  B.  Raum,  R 5,485 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


245 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT— 1875, 


Governor — John  L.  Beveridge. 

President  of  Senate  and  acting  Lieut. -Gov. — A.  A.  Glenn. 
Secretary  of  State —George  H.  Harlow. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — C.  E.  Lippincott. 
Treasurer — Thomas  S.  Bidgway. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction— S.  M.  Etter. 
Attorney- General — James  K.  Edsall. 

Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly. 

The  Twenty-ninth  General  Assembly  convened  January 
6,  and  was  composed  of  the  following  members : 

Senate. 


John  C.  Haines,  Chicago. 
R.  S.  Thompson,  Chicago. 
Miles  Kehoe,  Chicago. 
SamT  K.  Dow,  Chicago. 
John  Buehler,  Chicago. 

H.  F.  Waite,  Chicago. 

M.  F.  Robinson,  Chicago. 
C.  W.  Upton,  Waukegan. 
John  Early,  Rockford. 
Henry  Green,  Elizabeth. 
H.  A.  Mills,  Mt.  Carroll. 
Geo.  P.  Jacobs,  Oregon. 
M.  B.  Castle,  Sandwich. 
E.  B.  Canfield,  Aurora. 
A.  0.  Marshall,  Joliet. 

A.  S.  Palmer,  Onarga. 


Fawcett  Plumb,  Streator. 
James  G.  Strong,  Dwight. 

L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 

E.  A.  Wilcox,  Minonk. 

E.  C.  Moderwell,  Geneseo. 
P.  H.  Sanford,  Knoxville. 
J.  T.  Morgan,  Monmouth. 
Benj.  Warren,  LaHarpe. 

R.  Brown,  Rushville. 

John  S.  Lee,  Peoria. 

Jas.  W.  Robinson,  Tremont. 
John  Cusey,  Heyworth. 

J.  F.  Harrold,  Clinton. 

J.  C.  Sheldon,  Urbana. 
Geo.  Hunt,  Paris. 

C.  B.  Steele,  Mattoon. 


246 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


T.  Brewer,  Majority  Point. 
W.  H.  Hundley,  Taylorville 
W.  E.  Shutt,  Springfield. 

A.  A.  Glenn,  Mt.  Sterling. 

B.  Arntzen,  Quincy. 

W.  R.  Archer,  Pittsfield. 

C.  D.  Hodges,  Carrollton. 
B.  T.  Burke,  Carlinville. 

W.  H.  Krome,  Edwardsville. 
Geo.  Gundlach,  Carlyle. 


J.  Thompson,  Yandalia. 

G.  W.  Henry,  Louisville. 

0.  Y.  Smith,  Lawrenceville. 

T.  S.  Casey,  Mt.  Vernon. 

W.  H.  Parish,  Eldorado. 

W.  K.  Murphy,  Pinckneyville. 
J.  Rainey,  Belleville. 

Jesse  Ware,  Jonesboro. 

Sam’l  Glassford,  Vienna. 


House  of  Representatives. 


J.  B.  Bradwell,  Chicago. 
Lincoln  Dubois,  Chicago. 

M.  J.  Wentworth,  Chicago. 
John  Hise,  Chicago. 

Geo.  M.  Bogue,  Chicago. 

S.  P.  Hopkins,  Chicago. 
Wm.  Honan,  Chicago. 

C.  L.  Niehoff,  Chicago. 

T.  L.  Halpin,  Chicago. 
Orrin  L.  Mann,  Chicago. 
Wm.  H.  Condon,  Chicago. 
M.  M.  Miller,  Chicago, 

M.  J.  Dunne,  Chicago. 

J.  S.  Arwedson,  Chicago. 

C.  L.  Linderberg,  Chicago, 
Robert  Thiem,  Chicago. 
John  C.  Barker,  Chicago. 

W.  H.  Stickney,  Chicago. 
W.  H.  Skelly,  jr.,  Lemont. 
G.  Dunlap,  Norwood  Park. 
Wm.  Freise,  Desplaines. 

W.  A.  James,  Highland  Park. 

E.  M.  Haines,  Waukegan. 

F.  K.  Granger,  McHenry. 
Andrew  Ashton,  Durand. 

R.  F.  Crawford,  Rockford. 

M.  K.  Avery,  Belvidere. 
Forest  Turner,  Nora. 

E.  L.  Cronkrite,  Freeport. 
A.  M.  Jones,  JoDaviess. 

A.  R.  McCoy,  Fulton  City. 

N.  D.  French,  Thompson. 
Tyler  McWhorter,  Sterling. 


Henry  D.  Dement,  Dixon. 
Isaac  Rice,  Mt.  Morris. 

F.  H.  Marsh,  Oregon. 

Philip  Collins,  Morris. 
Joshua  McGrath,  Lisbon. 

D.  B.  Bailey,  Gardner. 

V.  Fredenhagen,  Downer’s  G. 
James  F.  Clafflin,  Lombard. 
James  Herrington,  Geneva. 
Wm.  Mooney,  Braidwood. 

H.  H.  Stasson,  jr.,  Monee. 
L.  H.  Goodrich,  Braidwood, 
Geo.  W.  Parker,  W^atseka, 
George  C.  Wilson,  Onarga. 
R.  Richardson,  Yellowhead. 
C.  L.  Hoffman,  Farm  Ridge. 

G.  W.  Armstrong,  Seneca. 

E.  H.  Spicer,  Marseilles. 
Albert  M.  Haling,  Roberts. 
Joseph  I.  Robinson,  Elliott. 
David  McIntosh,  Newton. 

A.  G.  Mammond,  Toulon. 

J.  H.  Moore,  Tiskilwa. 

J.  J.  Herron,  Princeton. 
Henry  France,  Roanoke. 

J.  T.  Thornton,  Magnolia. 
Nathaniel  Moore,  Wenona. 
Rufus  M.  Grinnell,  Cordova. 
John  T.  Browning,  Moline. 
John  P.  Fox,  Windsor. 

John  H.  Lewis.  Knoxville. 
John  T.  McGinnis,  Joy. 

C.  K.  Harvey,  Knoxville. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


247 


I.  L.  Christie,  Monmouth.  E.  H.  Downing,  Keokuk  J. 
C.  W.  Boydston,  Cameron.  James  Callans,  Winchester. 
A.  W.  King,  Macomb.  John  Moses,  Winchester. 
David  Rankin,  Biggsville.  J.  S.  Harvey,  Belle  view. 

W.  Jenney,  Burnside.  A.  J.  Thompson,  Bethel. 

Paul  D.  Salter,  Biggsville.  Samuel  Woods,  Pisgah. 
James  DeWitt,  Littleton.  John  Gordon,  Lynnville. 

S.  P.  Cummings,  Astoria.  S.  P.  Gilbert,  Carlinville. 

S.  Y.  Thornton,  Canton.  0.  P.  Powell,  Jerseyville. 

Wm.  Rowcliff,  Robin’s  Nest.  H.  F.  Martin,  Brighton. 
Julius  S.  Starr,  Peoria.  F.  S.  Pike,  St.  Jacob. 
Patrick  W.  Dunn,  Peoria.  Geo.  A.  Smith,  Alton. 
Richard  Holmes,  Delevan.  Geo.  H.  Weigler,  Alton. 

R.  A.  Talbott,  Burton  View.  J.  K.  McMasters,  Nashville. 
Thomas  Windle,  Lincoln.  A.  G.  Henry,  Greenville. 

T.  P.  Rogers,  Bloomington.  Wm.  H.  Moore,  Nashville. 

J.  F.  Winter,  Bloomington.  Wm.  R.  Hubbard,  Kinmundy. 

A.  E.  Stewart,  Bloomington.  Thos.  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 
Shaw  Pease,  Niantic.  John  B.  Johnson,  Alma. 

John  H.  Tyler,  Dewitt.  Samuel  R.  Hall,  Albion. 
Samuel  S.  Jack,  Decatur.  Byron  J.  Rotan,  Louisville. 
Wm.  H.  Phillips,  Rantoul.  John  Landrigan,  Albion. 
Geo.  H.  Benson,  Rantoul.  E.  Callahan,  Robinson. 

W.  C.  Hubbart,  Monticello.  John  H.  Halley,  Newton. 
Wm.  S.  O’Hair,  Paris,  J.  W.  Briscoe,  Darwin. 

John  Sidell,  Fairmount.  H.  W.  Hall,  Knight’s  Pr. 
Andrew  Gundy,  Bismark.  A.  B.  Barrett,  Mt.  Vernon. 

J.  A.  Connolly,  Charleston.  Boon  Kershaw,  Grayville. 

E.  M.  Vance,  Mattoon.  J.  N.  Wasson,  Shawneetown. 

R.  A.  Wilson,  Williamsburg.  A.  C.  Neilson,  Marion. 

Wm.  Gillmore,  Edgewood.  Isaac  Smith,  Ridgway. 

W.  Middlesworth,  Shelbyville.  J.  W.  Rickert,  Waterloo. 
William  Chew,  Shelbyville.  Samuel  McKee,  Blair, 

Levi  Scott,  Pana.  J.  Chesnutwood,  Evansville. 

John  C.  Hagler,  Pana.  Wm.  G.  Kase,  E.  St.  Louis. 
W.  F.  Mulkey,  Nokomis.  John  Thomas,  Belleville. 

Jos.  L.  Wilcox,  Loami.  James  Rankin,  Lebanon. 
Fred  Gehring,  Springfield.  F.  E.  Albright,  Murphysboro. 

S.  M.  Cullom,  Springfield.  M.  J.  Inscore,  Anna. 

N.  W.  Branson,  Petersburg.  Claiborn  Winston,  Cairo. 

A.  G.  Nance,  Petersburg.  Benj.  0.  Jones,  Metropolis. 
John  W.  Pugh,  Mason  City.  James  R.  Stegall,  Oak. 

T.  J.  Bates,  Camp  Point.  L.  F.  Plater,  Elizabethtown. 
Ira  M.  Moore,  Quincy. 

In  this  General  Assembly  the  Republicans  lost  their 
majority,  and  by  a fusion  with  the  Independents  the 


248 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Democrats  succeeded  in  obtaining  control  of  both  houses*. 
On  the  sixteenth  ballot  A.  A.  Glenn  was  elected  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  over  John  Early,  by  a vote  of 
26  to  28,  when  he  became  acting  Lieutenant-Governor, 
and  R.  R.  Townes,  Secretary,  over  D.  A.  Ray,  by  a vote 
of  26  to  24. 

In  the  House,  E.  M.  Haines  was  elected  Speaker,  over 
Shelby  M.  Cullom,  by  a vote  of  81  to  68,  and  Jeremiah 
J.  Crowley,  Clerk,  over  Daniel  Shepard,  by  a similar 
vote. 

Governor  Beveridge  presented  his  message  to  the  two 
houses  on  the  8th  of  January.  It  was  a brief,  business 
State  paper,  and  confined  exclusively  to  matters  of  State; 
he  congratulated  the  Legislature  on  the  happy  and  pros- 
perous condition  of  the  people,  and  commended  to  their 
careful  and  considerate  attention  the  passage  of  such  laws 
as  would  subserve  the  best  interests  of  the  State  and  foster 
and  preserve  the  State  institutions  intact. 

This  was  a stormy  session,  and  the  leaders  on  either' 
side  sought  every  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of  each 
other,  and  by  reason  of  this  it  was  an  unprofitable  session,, 
in  many  ways. 

The  laws  enacted  were  comprised  in  a volume  of  118 
pages,  the  most  important  of  which  were  : the  appropriation 
acts  ; to  provide  for  the  re-organization  of  cities ; to  enable 
corporations  in  other  States  and  counties  to  lend  money 
in  Illinois  ; to  change  the  fiscal  year;  to  give  railroad  com- 
panies the  right  to  purchase  or  lease  roads  in  adjoining 
States ; to  authorize  the  formation  of  union  depots  and 
stations  for  railroads ; to  authorize  the  refunding  of  funds 
collected  for  1878,  under  an  act  passed  in  1869,  providing 
for  the  payment  of  railroad  debts  of  counties,  townships, 
cities  and  towns,  and  to  regulate  the  charitable  institutions 
and  State  Reform  School,  and  to  improve  their  organiza- 
tion and  increase  their  efficiency. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


249 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

A VISION  OF  WAR. 


Extract  from  a Speech  Delivered  by  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  at  the  “Soldiers^ 
Reunion,”  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  September  21, 1876. 


“ The  past  rises  before  me  like  a dream.  Again  we  are 
in  the  great  struggle  for  National  life.  We  hear  the 
sounds  of  preparation — the  music  of  boisterous  drums — 
the  silver  notes  of  heroic  bugles.  We  see  thousands  of 
assemblages,  and  hear  the  appeals  of  orators ; we  see  the 
pale  cheeks  of  women,  and  the  flushed  faces  of  men ; and 
in  those  assemblages  we  see  all  the  dead  whose  dust  we 
have  covered  with  flowers.  We  lose  sight  of  them  no 
more.  We  are  with  them  when  they  enlist  in  the  great 
army  of  freedom.  We  see  them  part  with  those  they  love. 
Some  are  walking  for  the  last  time  in  quiet  woody  places, 
with  the  maidens  they  adore.  We  hear  the  whisperings 
and  the  sweet  vows  of  eternal  love  as  they  lingeringly 
part  forever.  Others  are  bending  over  cradles,  kissing 
babes  that  are  asleep.  Some  are  receiving  the  blessings 
of  old  men.  Some  are  parting  with  mothers,  who  hold 
them,  and  press  them  to  their  hearts  again  and  again, 
and  say  nothing.  Kisses  and  tears,  tears  and  kisses — 
divine  mingling  of  agony  and  love.  And  some  are  talking 
with  wives,  and  endeavoring  with  brave  words,  spoken  in 
the  old  tones,  to  drive  from  their  hearts  the  awful  fear. 
We  see  them  part.  We  see  the  wife  standing  in  the  door 
with  the  babe  in  her  arms— standing  in  the  sunlight  sob- 
bing— at  the  turn  of  the  road  a hand  waves — she  answers 
by  holding  high  in  her  loving  arms  the  child.  He  is  gone, 
and  forever. 

“We  see  them  all  as  they  march  proudly  away  under 
the  flaunting  flags,  keeping  time  to  the  grand,  wild  music 


250 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  war, — marching  down  the  streets  of  the  great  cities — 
through  the  towns  and  across  the  prairies — down  to  the 
fields  of  glory,  to  do  and  to  die  for  the  eternal  right. 

“We  go  with  them,  one  and  all.  We  are  by  their  side 
on  all  the  gory  fields — in  all  the  hospitals  of  pain — on  all 
the  weary  marches.  We  stand  guard  with  them  in  the 
wild  storm  and  under  the  quiet  stars.  We  are  with  them 
in  ravines  running  with  blood — in  the  furrows  of  old 
fields.  We  are  with  them  between  contending  hosts,  un- 
able to  move,  wild  with  thirst,  the  life  ebbing  slowly  away 
among  the  withered  leaves.  We  see  them  pierced1  by  balls 
and  torn  with  shells,  in  the  trenches,  by  forts,  and  in  the 
whirlwind  of  the  charge,  where  men  become  iron,  with 
nerves  of  steel. 

“ We  are  with  them  in  the  prisons  of  hatred  and  fam- 
ine ; but  human  speech  can  never  tell  what  they  endured. 

“ We  are  at  home  when  the  news  comes  that  they  are 
dead.  We  see  the  maiden  in  the  shadow  of  her  first  sor- 
row. We  see  the  silvered  head  .of  the  old  man  bowed 
with  his  last  grief. 

“ The  past  rises  before  us,  and  we  see  four  millions  of 
human  beings  governed  by  the  lash — we  see  them  bound 
hand  and  foot — we  hear  the  strokes  of  cruel  whips — we 
see  the  hounds  tracking  women  through  tangled  swamps. 
We  see  babes  sold  from  the  breasts  of  mothers.  Cruelty 
unspeakable  ! Outrage  infinite  ! 

“ Four  million  bodies  in  chains — four  million  souls  in 
fetters.  All  the  sacred  relations  of  wife,  mother,  father 
and  child  trampled  beneath  the  brutal  feet  of  might.  And 
all  this  was  done  under  our  beautiful  banner  of  the  free. 

“ The  past  rises  before  us.  We  hear  the  roar  and 
shriek  of  the  bursting  shell.  The  broken  fetters  fall. 
These  heroes  died.  We  look.  Instead  of  slaves,  we  see 
men  and  women  and  children.  The  wand  of  progress 
touches  the  auction-block,  the  slave-pen,  the  whipping- 
post, and  we  see  homes,  and  fire-sides,  and  school-houses, 
and  books,  and  where  all  was  want  and  crime  and  cruelty 
and  fear,  we  see  the  faces  of  the  free. 

“ These  heroes  are  dead.  They  died  for  liberty — they 
died  for  us.  They  are  at  rest.  They  sleep  in  the  land 
they  made  free,  under  the  flag  they  rendered  stainless, 
under  the  solemn  pines,  the  sad  hemlocks,  the  tearful  wil- 
lows, and  the  embracing  vines.  They  sleep  beneath  the 
shadows  of  the  clouds,  careless  alike  of  sunshine  or  of 
storm,  each  in  the  windowless  palace  of  Rest.  Earth  may 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


251 


run  red  with  other  wars — they  are  at  peace.  In  the  midst 
of  battle,  in  the  roar  of  conflict,  they  found  the  serenity 
of  death.  I have  one  sentiment  for  soldiers,  living  and 
dead:  Cheers  for  the  living;  tears  for  the  dead.” 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1876, 


In  1876,  the  contest  was  again  triangular  in  part.  The 
Republicans  met  in  State  convention  May  24,  to  nominate 
a State  ticket  and  appoint  delegates  to  the  National  Con- 
vention. Shelby  M.  Cullom  was  nominated  for  Governor, 
Andrew  Shuman  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  George  H.  Har- 
low for  Secretary  of  State,  Thomas  B.  Needles  for  Auditor, 
Edward  Rutz  for  Treasurer,  and  James  K.  Edsall,  who 
was  the  incumbent,  for  Attorney-General.  The  Greenback 
party  was  the  next  to  nominate  a State  ticket.  Lewis 
Steward  was  nominated  for  Governor,  James  H.  Pickrell 
for  Lieutenant-Governor,  Marsena  M.  Hooton  for  Secre- 
tary of  State,  John  Hise  for  Auditor,  Henry  T.  Aspern 
for  Treasurer,  and  Winfield  S.  Coy  for  Attorney-General. 
The  Democrats  met  July  27,  and  nominated  Lewis  Steward 
for  Governor,  Archibald  A.  Glenn  for  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Stephen  Y.  Thornton  for  Secretary  of  State,  John  Hise 
for  Auditor,  George  Gundlach  for  Treasurer,  and  Edmund 
Lynch  for  Attorney-General. 

The  National  Greenback  Convention  met  May  17,  at 
Indianapolis,  and  nominated  Peter  Cooper,  of  New  York, 
for  President,  and  Samuel  F.  Cary,  of  Ohio,  for  Vice- 
President. 


252 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  Republicans  met  in  National  Convention  at  Cincin- 
nati, June  14,  and  nominated  R.  JB.  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  for 
President,  and  Wm.  A.  Wheeler,  of  New  York,  for  Vice- 
President. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  met  in  St.  Louis,, 
June  17,  and  nominated  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New  York, 
for  President,  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  for 
Vice-President. 

The  nomination  of  Steward  and  Hise  by  the  Democrats,, 
for  Governor  and  Auditor,  virtually  left  the  Greenback 
party  out  of  the  fight,  and  the  Democrats  entered  upon 
the  canvass  with  the  hope  of  carrying  at  least  two  mem- 
bers of  the  State  ticket.  The  nomination  of  Hayes  did 
not  give  perfect  satisfaction  to  the  Republicans,  and  the 
canvass  was  rather  spiritless  until  near  the  close  of  the- 
campaign,  when  many  eminent  speakers  from  other  States 
were  brought  into  service,  notably  among  whom  was  James 
G.  Blaine.  On  the  contrary,  the  nomination  of  Tilden 
and  Hendricks  pleased  the  Democrats  to  the  utmost,  and 
they  labored  in  and  out  of-  season  for  the  success  of  botli 
the  State  and  National  tickets ; indeed,  the  party  had  not 
been  so  well  organized  since  1860;  but  the  Republicans 
carried  the  State  for  all  their  nominees,  by  a greatly  re- 
duced majority. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressmen  and 
Presidential  electors  is  as  follows : 

Governor. 


Shelby  M.  Cullom,  R * 279,268 

Lewis  Steward,  D.-G 272,465 

Scattering 365 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

Andrew  Shuman,  R 278,167 

Archibald  A.  Glenn,  D 255,970 

James  H.  Pickrell,  G 18,053 

Scattering 362, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  253 

Secretary  of  State. 

•George  H.  Harlow,  R 278,457 

Stephen  Y.  Thornton,  D 255,990 

Marsena  M.  Hooton,  G 17,848 

Scattering .* 482 

Auditor. 

Thos.  B.  Needles,  R 278,628 

John  Hise,  D.-G 273,052 

Scattering 378 

Treasurer. 

Edward  Rutz,  R 277,788 

George  Gundlach,  D 255,044 

Henry  T.  Aspern,  G 19,439 

Scattering 338 

Attorney-General. 

James  K.  Edsall,  R 278,472 

Edmund  Lynch,  I) 257,057 

Winfield  S.  Coy,  G 17,433 

Scattering 367 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

William  Aldrich,  R 16,578 

John  R.  Hoxie,  D 14,101 

George  S.  Bowen 486 

Second  District. 

Carter  H.  Harrison,  D 14,732 

George  R.  Davis,  R 14,090 

S.  F.  Norton 118 

Third  District. 

Lorenz  Brentano,  R 11,722 

John  Y.  Le  Moyne.  D 11,435 

Fourth  District. 

William  Lathrop,  R 13,241 

John  F.  Farnsworth.  D 8,149 

Stephen  A.  Hurlbut.  I.  R 5,991 


254 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Fifth  District. 

Horatio  C.  Burchard,  R 15,793 

Jere  Pattison,  D 10,600 

Sixth  District. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  R 15,560 

Charles  Dunham,  D 9,821 

Austin  Sykes 283 

Seventh  District. 

Philip  C.  Hayes,  R 14,849 

Alexander  Campbell,  G.  B 13,313 

Eighth  District. 

Greenbury  L.  Fort,  R 15,011 

George  W.  Parker,  D 12,211 

Ninth  District. 

Thomas  A.  Boyd,  R 14,548 

George  A.  Wilson,  D 14,001 

Wm.  W.  Mathews,  G.  B 678 

Tenth  District. 

Benjamin  F.  Marsh,  R 14,252 

J.  H.  Hungate,  D 13,496 

J.  L.  Christie 147 

Eleventh  District. 

Robert  M.  Knapp,  D 17,949 

Joseph  Robbins,  R 12,618 

J.  A.  Edie 35 

Twelfth  District. 

William  M.  Springer,  D 17,400 

David  L.  Phillips  R 13,744 

Thirteenth  District. 

Thomas  F.  Tipton,  R 15,229 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  G.  B 14,977 

Fourteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  R 17,796 

John  C.  Black,  D 16,404 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  255 

Fifteenth  District. 

John  B.  Eden,  D 18,714 

George  D.  Chafee,  E 18,765 

A.  J.  Hunter 72 

Sixteenth  District. 

William  A.  J.  Sparks,  D 14,591 

Edwin  M.  Ashcraft,  E 12,763 

Seventeenth  District. 

William  E.  Morrison,  D 17,036 

Henry  L.  Baker,  E 13,029 

Eighteenth  District. 

William  Hartzell,  D 14,691 

Benjamin  L.  Wiley,  E 14,671 

Nineteenth  District. 

Eichard  W.  Townshend,  D 12,720 

Edward  Bonham,  E 8,558 

William  B.  Anderson,  G.  B : 7,463 

Electors — Hayes,  E. 

John  I.  Einaker 277,227 

Peter  Schuttler 278,228 

George  Armour 278,232 

Bolivar  G.  Gill 270,740 

Louis  Schaffner 278,231 

Allen  C.  Fuller 278,232 

Joseph  M.  Bailey 277,231 

John  B.  Hawley 277,232 

Franklin  Corwin 277,215 

Jason  W.  Strevell 277,226 

Oscar  F.  Price 277,232 

Alexander  McLean 277,231 

David  E.  Beatty 277,230 

Philip  N.  Minier 277,231 

Michael  Donahue 277,230 

Hugh  Crea 277,215 

George  D.  Chafee 277,233 

James  M.  Truitt 277,233 

Cyrus  Happy ^ 277,233 

George  C.  Boss 277,235 

Joseph  J.  Castles 277,029 


256 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


TlLDEN,  ]). 

William  F.  Coolbaugh 258,445 

William  J.  Allen 258,445 

Thomas  Hoyne 258,598 

Samuel  S.  Hayes 258,599 

Arno  Yoss 258,599 

Thomas  B.  Coulter 258,601 

William  C.  Green 258,601 

James  S.  Eckels 258,465 

George  B.  Martin 258,411 

Henry  W.  Bullock 258  275 

Lawrence  W.  James 258,508 

James  W.  Davidson 258,462 

William  G.  Ewing 249,847 

Charles  A.  Keyes 258,466 

Csesar  A.  Roberts 258,471 

Orlando  B.  Ficklin 258,466 

Robert  N.  Bishop 258,468 

Jesse  J.  Phillips  258,468 

Charles  A.  Walker 258,467 

J.  Perry  Johnson 258,467 

John  M.  Crebs 258,288 

Wigfall  G.  Ewing 9,119 

W.  T.  Davidson 21 

William  Gordon 9 

Coopee,  G.  B. 

Sydney  Myers 18,241 

James  W.  Singleton 17,107 

A.  J.  Grover 17,121 

Andrew  C.  Cameron 17,174 

H.  B.  Barrett 17,191 

S.  M.  Slade 17,232 

J.  M.  King 17,231 

S.  M.  Smith 17,229 

John  M.  Thompson 17,225 

James  G.  Bayne. 17,231 

H.  Christman 16,745 

A.  J.  Streetor 17,233 

H.  K.  Davis 17,223 

John  McConnell 17,224 

Thomas  Snell 17.226 

Jesse  Harper 17.223 

Charles  Voris 17,223 

Rolla  B.  Henry 17,223 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  257 

John  Hinchcliffe 17,226 

S.  I.- Davis 17,221 

John  Landrigan 16,857 


The  Prohibition  and  Anti-Secret  Society  parties  also  run 
•electoral  tickets;  the  highest  vote  polled  by  the  Prohibi- 
tionists was  249,  and  181  by  the  Anti-Secret  Society. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


STATE  GOVERNMENT-1877, 


Governor — Shelby  M.  Cullom. 

Lieutenant-Governor — Andrew  Shuman. 

Secretary  of  State — George  H.  Harlow. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — T.  B.  Needles. 

Treasurer — Edward  Butz. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — S.  M.  Etter. 
Attorney-General — James  K.  Edsall. 

Thirtieth  General  Assembly. 

The  Thirtieth  General  Assembly  convened  January  3, 
and  was  composed  of  the  following  members: 

Senate. 

John  C.  Haines,  Chicago.  H.  A.  Mills,  Mt.  Carroll. 

Daniel  N.  Bash,  Chicago.  H.  D.  Dement,  Dixon. 

Miles  Kehoe,  Chicago.  M.  B.  Castle,  Sandwich. 
Francis  A.  Riddle,  Chicago.  J.  H.  Mayborne,  Geneva. 
John  Buehler,  Chicago.  A.  0.  Marshall,  Joliet. 

M.  A.  DeLany,  Chicago.  T.  P.  Bonfield,  Kankakee. 

M.  W.  Robinson,  Chicago.  Fawcett  Plumb,  Streator. 

M.  L.  Joslyn,  Woodstock.  S.  T.  Fosdick,  Chatsworth. 
John  Early,1  Rockford.  L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 

R.  H.  McClellan,  Galena.  Henry  J.  Frantz,  Roanoke. 


VDied  September,  1877. 

—17 


258 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


E.  C.  Moderwell,  Geneseo.  Bernard  Arntzen,  Quincy. 

B.  C.  Taliaferro,  Keithsburg.  Wm.  R.  Archer,  Pittsfield. 

John  T.  Morgan,  Monmouth.  C.  D.  Hodges,  Carrollton, 
William  Scott,  Dallas  City.  G.  W.  Herdman,  Jerseyville. 
Robert  Brown,  Rushville.  W.  H.  Erome,  Edwardsville. 
John  S.  Lee,  Peoria.  E.  E.  W.  Brink,  Hoylton. 

J.  W.  Robison,  Tremont.  John  Thompson,  Yandalia. 

J.  M.  Hamilton,  Bloomingt’n.  R.  P.  Hanna,  Fairfield. 

J.  F.  Harold,  DeWitt.  0.  Y.  Smith,  Lawrenceville. 

C.  P.  Davis,  Monticello.  C.  E.  McDow'ell,  Carmi. 

George  Hunt,  Paris.  Wm.  H.  Parish,  Eldorado. 

Malden  Jones,  Tuscola.  Ambrose  Hoener,  Waterloo. 

Thos.  Brewer,  Majority  Poi’t.  Jefferson  Rainey,  Belleville. 
E.  Southworth,  Litchfield.  Jesse  Ware,  Jonesboro. 

Wm.  E.  Shutt,  Springfield.  S.  M.  Glassford,  Yienna. 
Luther  Dearborn,  Havana. 

House  of  Representatives. 

W.  H.  Thompson,  Chicago.  James  S.  Taggart,  Ridott. 
Charles  L.  Easton,  Chicago.  Hiram  Tyrrell,  Plum  River. 
M.  J.  Wentworth,  Chicago.  E.  L.  Cronkrite,  Freeport. 

S.  P.  Hopkins,  Chicago.  James  Shaw,  Mt.  Carroll. 

J.  W.  E.  Thomas,  Chicago.  E.  H.  Nevitt,  Albany. 
Joseph  E.  Smith,  Chicago.  J.  M.  Stowell,  Mt.  Carroll. 
James  B.  Taylor,  Chicago.  Abijah  Powers,  Sterling. 

H.  F.  Sheridan,  Chicago.  Frank  N.  Tice,  Forreston. 

P.  J.  Hickey,  Chicago.  B.  H.  Truesdell,  Lee. 

E.  B.  Sherman,  Chicago.  Peter  S.  Lott,  Newark. 

George  W.  Reed,  Chicago.  Wm.  M.  Byers,  Sycamore. 
Jos.  J.  Kearney,  Chicago.  Amos  D.  Clover,  Gardner. 
John  A.  Roche,  Chicago.  Henry  H.  Evans,  Aurora. 
Peter  Kiolbassa,  Chicago.  Jas.  G.  Wright,  Naperville. 
Michael  J.  Dunne,  Chicago.  James  Herrington,  Geneva. 
Eugene  A.  Sittig,  Chicago.  Fred  Kouka,  Eagle  Lake. 
Arno  Yoss,  Chicago.  L.  H.  Goodrich,  Braidwood. 

Austin  0.  Sexton,  Chicago.  D.  H.  Pinney,  Joliet. 

J.  S.  Bielefeldt,  Thornton.  Conrad  Secrest,  Watseka. 
John  H.  Kedzie,  Evanston.  John  A.  Koplin,  Buckley. 

G.  C.  Klehm,  Niles  Center.  D.  C.  Taylor,  Kankakee. 

F.  K.  Granger,  McHenry.  L.  B.  Crooker,  Mendota. 

W.  A.  James,  Highland  Park.  S.  M.  Heslet,  Meriden. 

E.  M.  Dennis.  Waukegan.  G.  W.  Armstrong,  Seneca. 

G.  H.  Hollister,  Rockton.  George  B.  Gray,  Pontiac. 

John  Budlong,  Rockford.  John  H.  Collier,  Gibson. 
Andrew  Ashton,  Durand.  E.  C.  Allen,  Long  Point. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


259 


Charles  Baldwin,  Princeton. 
Daniel  J.  Hurd,  Lafayette. 
Jas.  J.  Herron,  Princeton. 
Joel  A.  Ranney,  Metamora. 

C.  Fosbender,  Sparland. 

Eli  Y.  Raley,  Granville. 

J.  T.  Browning,  Moline. 
John  P.  Fox,  Geneseo. 

R.  M.  Grennel,  Cordovia. 
Alfred  S.  Curtis,  Oneida. 
Jos.  F.  Latimer,  Abingdon. 
A.  M.  Brown,  Galesburg. 

C.  W.  Boydston,  Cameron. 
E.  K.  Westfall,  Bushnell. 

C.  H.  Whitaker,  Macomb. 
Charles  F.  Gill,  LaHarpe. 
Geo.  P.  Walker,  Warsaw. 
John  J.  Reaburn,  Denver. 

J.  A.  Leeper,  Farmington. 
Chas.  F,  Robison,  Ellisville. 
W.  T.  McCreery,  Huntsville. 
L.  A.  Wood,  Chillicothe. 
Nelson  D.  Jay,  Elmwood. 
Robert  S.  Bibb,  Peoria. 
Joseph  C.  Ross,  Lincoln. 

D.  C.  Smith,  Pekin. 

Wm.  A.  Moore,  Morton. 

T.  F.  Mitchell,  Bloomington. 
J.  F.  Winter,1  Bloomington. 
T.  P.  Rogers,  Bloomington. 
Thomas  J.  Abel,  Decatur. 
Samuel  S.  Jack,  Decatur. 
Wm.  L.  Chambers,  Clinton. 
Robert  A.  Bower,  Tolono. 

E.  C.  Bartholo,  Mahomet. 
Simeon  H.  Busey,  Urbana. 
J.  H.  Oakwood,  Catlin. 
Alvan  Gilbert,  Rossville. 
Robt.  L.  McKinlay,  Paris. 
Henry  A.  Neal,  Charleston. 

R.  Heffernan,  Mattoon. 
Stephen  Cannon,  Sullivan. 
Gersham  Monohon,  Greenup. 
N.  P.  Robinson,  Effingham. 
Thos.  J.  Fritts,  Cold  Springs. 


David  H.  Zepp,  Nokomis. 
W.  E.  Morrison, Morrisonvl’e. 
Burrel  Phillips,  Hillsboro. 
John  Foutch,  New  Berlin. 

J.  Mayo  Palmer,  Springfield. 
DeWitt  W.  Smith,  Bates. 
Jacob  Wheeler,  Havana. 

W.  L.  Yandeventer,Mt.Ster’g. 
Cornelius  Rourke,  Petersburg. 
Thomas  G.  Black,  Clayton. 
Hope  S.  Davis,  Quincy. 

J.  H.  Hendrickson,  Mendon. 
Asa  C.  Matthews,  Pittsfield. 

S.  R.  Powell,  Winchester. 

B.  J.  Hall,  Hardin. 

I.  L.  Morrison,  Jacksonville. 
W.  P.  Callon,  Jacksonville, 
Lucien  King,  Kane. 

R.  Rowett,  Carlin ville. 

H.  W.  Wall,  Staunton. 

J.  N.  English,  Jerseyville. 
John  S.  Dewey,  Troy. 

S.  A.  Buckmaster,  Alton. 

F.  M,  Pearce,  Alhambra. 

R.  Tierney,  Okawville. 

W.  M.  Evans,  Greenville. 

G.  F.  Berry,  Greenville. 

F.  Remann,  Yandalia. 

A.  J.  Hogge,  Greenland. 
Thos.  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 

H.  H.  Chessley,  Louisville. 
W.  R.Wilkinson,  Friendsville. 
Geo.  D.  Ramsey,  Xenia. 

W.  Lindsey,  Martinsville. 

J.  H.  Halley,2  Newton. 

A.  J.  Reavill,  Flat  Rock. 

Ross  Graham,  Carmi. 

T.  Connelly,  McLeansboro. 

T.  J.  Williams,  Spring  Garden 
P.  Phillips,  Webb’s  Hill. 

J.  M.  Washburn,  Marion. 

T.  M.  Mooneyham,  Benton. 

T.  T.  Fountain,  DuQuoin. 

J.  Boyd,  Pinckneyville. 

S.  P.  Mace,  Percy. 


1 Resignation  accepted  August  8, 1877. 


2 Resigned  Aug.  2,  1877. 


260  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

J.  W.  Wells,  Marrissa.  F.  E.  Albright,  Murphysboro. 
A.  S.  Wilderman,  Belleville.  W.  S.  Morris,  Elizabethtown. 
J.  M.  Whitaker,  Summerfieid.A.  D.  Pierce,  Golconda. 
W.H.  Woodward,  Carbondale.E.  B.  Watkins,  Mound  City. 
Alex.  H.  Irwin1,  Cairo. 

The  Republicans  being  in  the  minority  in  the  Senate, 
the  Democrats  and  Independents  united  and  organized  this 
body.  Fawcett  Plumb  was  elected  President  pro  tempore , 
and  James  H.  Paddock,  Secretary. 

In  the  House,  James  Shaw  was  elected  Speaker,  over 
Samuel  A.  Buckmaster,  by  a vote  of  78  to  65,  and  E.  F. 
Dutton,  Clerk,  over  Thomas  S.  Bouton,  by  a vote  of  79 
to  70. 

Governor  Beveridge  presented  his  message  to  the  two 
houses  on  the  5th.  It  contained  the  usual  recommenda- 
tions, and  closed  with  this  patriotic  reference  to  National 
questions : 

“ In  my  former  messages  I studiously  avoided  all  ques- 
tions of  National  polity,  confining  myself  strictly  to  matters 
of  State.  At  the  close  of  my  administration,  and  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  Nation  has  lately  passed  through  the 
excitement  of  a popular  election,  and  the  public  mind  is 
more  or  less  agitated  by  the  results  of  that  election,  it 
may  not  be  improper  in  me  to  express  my  confidence  in 
the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the  American  people  peace- 
ably to  adjust  all  difficulties.  I advise  moderation,  invoke 
wise  counsels,  and  supplicate  peace.  We  want  no  more 
war.  The  blood  of  the  late  fratricidal  strife  still  reddens 
the  earth ; the  graves  of  the  fallen  are  yet  fresh  and  visi- 
ble ; their  widows  and  orphans  are  still  living  among  us ; 
the  griefs  and  sorrows  of  the  heart  are  yet  unassuaged. 
Keeping  in  grateful  remembrance  the  heroic  sacrifice  for 
our  country,  let  us  lay  aside  all  animosity  and  bitterness, 
heal  the  broken  hearts,  build  up  the  waste  places,  and 
bind  all  sections  of  our  beloved  country  forever  together 
by  the  bonds  of  love  and  prosperity.  No  matter  how  the 
Presidential  question  may  be  eventually  decided  by  the 
proper  authorities,  for  one  I shall  willingly  submit  to  the 
decision,  and  join  all  persons  of  every  party  for  the  main- 
tenance of  law,  the  preservation  of  public  order,  and  the 
protection  of  all  citizens  of  every  race,  color  and  condition, 


1 Resigned,  February  12,  1878. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


261 


in  the  full  and  peaceable  enjoyment  and  exercise  of 
all  their  rights,  privileges  and  immunities  under  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  laws.” 

During  the  administration  of  Gov.  Beveridge,  the 
principal  of  the  State  debt  was  reduced  $588,233.76. 

On  January  9,  the  incoming  Governor,  S.  M.  Cullom, 
took  the  oath  of  office  and  delivered  his  inaugural  mes- 
sage to  the  two  houses.  Lieut.-Gov.  Shuman  entered  upon 
his  duties  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  the  same  day. 

Among  other  duties  devolving  upon  this  General  Assem- 
bly was  the  election  of  a United  States  Senator.  Gen. 
John  A.  Logan  was  the  unanimous  nominee  of  the  Repub- 
lican caucus,  and  Gen.  John  M.  Palmer  of  the  Democratic. 
The  Independents  held  the  balance  of  power,  consequently 
neither  of  the  candidates  possessed  a majority.  The  two 
houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  18th  of  January,  and 
balloted  six  times  for  Senator.  On  the  first  ballot  Logan 
received  the  votes  of  21  Senators  and  78  Representatives, 
and  Palmer  21  Senators  and  67  Representatives.  Seven 
Senators  voted  for  Wm.  B.  Anderson,  and  six  Represen- 
tatives for  David  Davis.  Two  members  of  the  House — 
Busey  and  Bartholo — refrained  from  voting.  On  the  last 
ballot  Logan’s  vote  remained  the  same  while  Palmer  lost 
two;  Anderson  received  7 and  Davis  7.  On  the  22d 
the  name  of  Gen.  Palmer  was  withdrawn,  and  on  the  first  bal- 
lot thereafter  Logan  received  99  votes,  Wm.  B.  Anderson 
85,  John  C.  Haines  7,  Wm.  C.  Goudy  7,  Wm.  H.  Parish 
1,  A.  A.  Glenn  1,  S.  S.  Marshall  1,  and  C.  B.  Lawrence  1. 
Five  additional  ballots  were  taken  with  a similar  result. 
On  the  24th,  the  name  of  Gen.  Logan  was  withdrawn, 
and  on  the  first  ballot  thereafter  David  Davis  received  97 
votes,  C.  B.  Lawrence  86,  John  C.  Haines  7,  John  A. 
Logan  2,  Wm.  H.  Parish  1,  Jehu  Baker  1,  S.  M.  Cullom 
1,  R.  G.  Ingersoll  1,  G.  B.  Raum  1,  and  J.  L.  Beveridge  1. 
Five  ballots  were  indulged  in  that  day  without  choice. 


262 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


On  the  40th  ballot  for  Senator,  which  occurred  on  the  25th 
of  January,  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast  were  200,  of 
which  David  Davis  received  101,  C.  B.  Lawrence  94, 
John  C.  Haines  3,  Wm.  H.  Parish  1,  John  A.  Logan  1. 
Mr.  Davis  having  received  a majority  of  all  the  votes  cast, 
the  Speaker  declared  him  the  duly  elected  Senator.  The 
highest  number  of  votes  during  the  contest  received  by 
Gen.  Logan  was  100,  and  by  Gov.  Palmer  89. 

The  chief  acts,  exclusive  of  the  appropriations,  were : to 
provide  the  manner  of  proposing  amendments  to  the  con- 
stitution; to  levy  and  collect  back  taxes  of  incorporated 
cities;  for  the  relief  of  disabled  members  of  police  and 
fire  departments ; to  establish  Appellate  Courts ; to  divide 
the  State  into  judicial  districts ; to  extend  the  jurisdiction 
of  county  courts ; defining  vagabonds  and  prescribing  pun- 
ishment ; to  prevent  and  punish  wrongs  to  children ; to 
punish  fraud  or  extravagance  in  the  expenditure  of  moneys 
appropriated  for  public  improvements ; to  amend  the  liquor 
law;  to  amend  the  election  law;  to  amend  an  act  con- 
cerning insolvent  debtors;  to  provide  for  the  organization 
of  the  State  militia ; relating  to  miners ; providing  for  the 
health  and  safety  of  persons  employed  in  coal  mines;  to 
amend  an  act  relating  to  the  payment  of  railroad  bonds 
by  counties,  cities  and  other  municipal  corporations;  re- 
lating to  fencing  and  operating  railroads;  to  protect  pas- 
sengers on  railroads;  to  prevent  obstructing  the  business 
of  railroads ; to  fix  rates  of  storage  in  the  warehouses ; to 
amend  the  school  law,  and  to  establish  a State  Board 
of  Health. 

The  two  houses  adjourned  sine  die  May  24. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


263 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1873. 


The  campaign  of  1878  was  ushered  in  by  the  nomina- 
tion of  three  State  tickets.  The  Greenback  party  held 
their  convention  first.  Erastus  N.  Bates,  ex-Republican 
Treasurer,  was  nominated  for  Treasurer,  and  F.  M.  Hall, 
for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  Republicans  nominated  John  C.  Smith,  for  Treas- 
urer, and  James  P.  Slade,  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

The  Democrats  nominated  Edward  L.  Cronkrite,  for 
Treasurer,  and  Samuel  M-.  Etter,  the  then  incumbent,  for 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Although  three  parties  were  contesting  for  the  offices  to 
be  filled  at  that  election,  there  was  but  little  enthusiasm 
aroused  among  the  people  in  general,  and  the  candidates 
made  more  of  a personal  canvass  than  otherwise.  The 
Republican  ticket  was  elected  by  a plurality  of  36,373. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers  and  members  of 
Congress  is  as  follows: 


Treasures. 

John  C.  Smith,  R 206,458- 

Edward  L.  Cronkrite,  D 170,085 

Erastus  N.  Bates,  G 65,689 

Jerome  A.  Gorin 2,228 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

James  P.  Slade,  R 205,461 

Samuel  M.  Etter,  D 171,336 

F.  M.  Hall,  G 65,487 

Kate  L.  Hopkins 2,109 


264 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Fibst  Disteict. 

William  Aldrich,  R 12,165 

James  R.  Doolittle,  D 7,136 

William  V.  Barr 1,844 

John  McAuliff 2,322 

George  R.  Davis  2 

Second  Disteict. 

George  R.  Davis,  R 10,347 

Miles  Kehoe,  Inch  D 6,111 

James  Felch 1,600 

George  A.  Schilling 2,473 

J.  H.  Condon 250 

John  Sebolski 74 

Thibd  Disteict. 

Hiram  Barber,  R 9,574 

Lambert  Tree,  D 5,280 

A.  B.  Cornell 884 

Benjamin  Sibley 2,306 


Foueth  Disteict. 

John  C.  Sherwin,  R * 12,753 

Jonathan  C.  Stoughton.  I.  R 4,438 

Augustus  Adams.  D 3,448 

Fifth  Disteict. 

Robert  M.  A.  Hawk,  R 11,042 

Mortimer  D.  Hathaway.  D 4,823 

John  M.  King 4,804. 

Sixth  Disteict. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  R 10,964r 

James  W.  Haney.  G 6,675 

Charles  Dunham . D : 3,257 

Seventh  Disteict. 

Philip  C.  Hayes,  R 10,712 

W.  S.  Brooks.  D 5,795 

Alexander  Campbell.  G 6,512. 

Eighth  Disteict. 

Greenbury  L.  Fort,  R 11,271 

Thomas  M.  Shaw.  D 4,822 

Chris.  C.  Strawn.  G 6,575 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  265' 

Ninth  District. 

Thomas  A.  Boyd,  B 10,543 

George  A.  Wilson,  D 9,802 

Alex.  H.  McKeighan,  G 3,749 

Tenth  District. 

Benjamin  F.  Marsh,  B 11,814 

Delos  P.  Phelps,  D 11,238 

Alson  J.  Streeter,  G 3,496 

Eleventh  District. 

James  W.  Singleton,  D 11,961 

James  P.  Dimmitt,  B 6,956 

William  H.  Pogue 3,034 

Twelfth  District. 

William  M.  Springer,  D 12,542 

John  Cook,  B 9,146 

John  Mathers,  G 4,611 

Thirteenth  District. 

A.  E.  Stevenson,  G 13,870 

Thomas  F.  Tipton,  B 12,058 

L.  M.  Bickmore 135 

Fourteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  B 13,698 

Malden  Jones,  D 11,527 

Jesse  Harper,  G 4,451 

Fifteenth  District. 

Albert  P.  Forsyth,  G 13,106 

Hiram  B.  Decius,  D 12,942 

Sixteenth  District. 

William  A.  J.  Sparks,  D 11,493 

Basil  B.  Smith,  B 9,946 

James  Creed 2,139 

Seventeenth  District. 

William  B.  Morrison,  D 12,436 

Jehu  Baker,  B 10,605 

William  E.  Moberly 1,598- 


266 


POLITJCS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


Eighteenth  District. 


John  E.  Thomas,  E 12,686 

W.  J.  Allen,  D 12,074 

S.  J.  Davis,  G- 2,454 

Nineteenth  District. 

E.  W.  Townshend,  D 12,608 

Eobert  Bell,  E 8,190 

Seth  P.  Crews 2,847 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SIDNEY  BREESE. 


He  is  the  Projector  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad— His  Wonderful  Predic- 
tion regarding  the  Growth  and  Magnitude  of  Railways  in  the  United 
States. 


Until  the  death  of  Judge  Breese  it  had  never  been  quite 
understood  who  was  justly  entitled  to  the  credit  of  project- 
ing the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which  has  added  untold 
wealth  to  the  prairie  State.  Judge  Breese  himself  lays 
claim  to  having  projected  the  enterprise.  In  the  elaborate 
memorial  address  of  Melville  W.  Fuller,  of  Chicago,  before 
the  Illinois  Bar  Association,  at  Springfield,  in  January, 
1879,  on  the  life  and  services  of  Judge  Breese,  we  find 
this  definitely  satisfactory  statement  regarding  the  origin 
of  the  great  enterprise.  Said  he: 

“ In  October,  1885,  Judge  Breese  called  the  attention  of 
the  public  to  the  importance  of  a direct  connection  of  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  then  in  course  of  construction, 
with  the  lower  Mississippi  at  Cairo,  by  a railroad,  propos- 
ing that  the  road  should  start  from  the  termination  of  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


267 


-canal,  and  proceed  as  near  as  might  be  by  the  route  of 
the  third  principal  meridian,  through  Bloomington,  Deca- 
tur, Yandalia,  Carlyle,  Nashville,  Pinckney  ville,  Browns- 
ville and  Jonesboro,  and  pointing  out  how  it  could  be 
done  and  by  what  means,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
great  result  was  achieved  he  labored  steadily  to  bring  it 
about,  opposing,  however,  the  act  of  February,  1837,  for 
a general  system  of  internal  improvements. 

“ In  Congress,  his  first  movement  in  favor  of  the  project 
was  marked  by  great  sagacity.  He  introduced,  in  January, 
1844,  and  obtained  the  passage  of,  a resolution  instructing 
the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  to  provide  for  an  exam- 
ination of  the  locality  at,  or  near,  the  confluence  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  with  a view  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a naval  depot  and  dockyard,  which  he  supported 
in  an  elaborate  letter,  under  date  of  February  29,  1844,  to 
Hon.  R.  H.  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, which  was  printed  by  order  of  the  Senate,  and, 
among  other  things,  contained  the  following:  ‘At  some 
period,  not  distant,  the  projected  railroad  will  be  con- 
structed from  the  iron  mountains  and  copper  mines  in 
Missouri  to  the  Mississippi  river,  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio.  From  the  cars  which  bring  metal  from  the 
mines,  transported  across  the  river  in  ferry  boats,  it  will 
be  deposited  in  public  stores  for  use,  or  in  private  stores 
for  transportation  to  more  distant  markets.  Nor  will  it 
be  long  before  the'  Central  or  Great  Western  Railway  of 
Illinois  will  be  constructed,  opening  a route  toward  the 
lakes,  never  to  be  obstructed  by  low  water  or  ice.  Com- 
mencing at  the  site  of  the  proposed  depot,  and  running 
near  five  hundred  miles  through  a region  of  unsurpassed 
fertility,  it  will  not  only  bring  in  supplies  inexhaustible, 
but  open  a communication  through  which  naval  stores 
may  be  sent  to  the  lakes,  it  being  connected  with  the  pro- 
jected canals  in  Illinois  and  Indiana,  without  transhipment 
from  boats  on  the  rivers,  or  the  interposition  of  other 
oauses,  which  would  render  their  transportation  from  other 
points  more  dilatory  and  expensive. 

“ This  was  the  entering  wedge  which  opened  up  an 
inquiry,  resulting,  to  use  Judge  Breese’s  language  a few 
years  after,  ‘in  the  growth  of  a great  city  at  that  point, 
of  which  our  State  will  be  proud.  Like  another  queen, 
she  will  yet  rise  in  splendor  from  the  waters.’ 

M In  March,  1844,  a bill  for  a grant  for  railway  purposes 
was  introduced  in  the  House  by  Col.  McClernand,  ‘than 
whom,’  writes  Judge  Breese,  ‘our  State  never  had  an  abler 


268 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  IILLINOIS. 


member ; ’ and  Senator  Breese,  in  addition  to  a bill  offered 
in  December,  1844,  introduced  one  in  January,  1846,  to 
grant  to  the  State  of  Illinois  alternate  sections  of  land 
to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  road,  making  as  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  to  which  the 
bill  was  referred,  the  first  full  report  ever  made  to  Congress 
on  the  subject.  In  January,  1848,  Senator  Breese  made 
an  elaborate  report  upon  a bill  of  Senator  Douglas,  and 
in  July,  1848,  reported  the  bill  of  Senator,  afterward  Vice- 
President,  King,  in  favor  of  Alabama. 

“ In  December,  1848,  Senator  Breese  made  another 
report  upon  a bill  of  Judge  Douglas,  going  fully  into  the 
whole  subject,  and  endeavoring  to  obviate  all  constitutional 
and  other  objections  to  such  grants,  and  the  argument 
contained  in  it  was  made  the  basis  of  all  the  subsequent 
grants  to  this  and  other  States. 

“In  September,  1850,  after  Judge  Breese  left  the  Senate, 
a bill  was  passed  which  consolidated  his  original  bill  of 
1846,  with  that  of  Senator  King,  of  1848,  and  under  this  we 
obtained  the  land. 

“ In  1851,  when  Judge  Breese  was  a member  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  Speaker  of  the  House,  the  act  was 
passed  incorporating  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company, 
and  giving  it  the  benefit  of  the  grant,  and  Judge  Breese 
thus  witnessed  the  close  of  his  long  labors  in  this  direction, 
labors,  to  some  of  which  only  this  is  but  a mere  referencer 
and  it  was  in  that  year  that  he  published  a letter  in  which 
he  says : * I claim  to  have  first  projected  this  great  road 

in  my  letter  of  1885,  and  in  the  judgment  of  impartial  and 
disinterested  men  my  claim  will  be  allowed.  I have  said 
and  written  more  in  favor  of  it  than  any  other.  It  has 
been  my  highest  ambition  to  accomplish  it,  and  when  my 
last  resting  place  shall  be  marked  by  the  cold  marble 
which  gratitude  or  affection  may  erect,  I desire  for  it  no 
other  inscription  than  this,  that  he  who  sleeps  beneath  it 
projected  the  Central  Railroad.’  ” 

As  an  evidence  of  the  master  foresight  of  Judge  Breese, 
regarding  the  benefits  which  were  to  follow  the  path  of  the 
iron  horse,  we  transfer  to  these  pages  an  extract  from  a 
report  he  made  in  July,  1846,  when  a Senator  in  Congress 
and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  It 
relates  to  a memorial  of  A.  Whitney,  for  a grant  of  land 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


269 


lo  enable  him  to  build  a railroad  from  Lake  Michigan  to 
the  Pacific  ocean.  Summing  up  the  whole  question  of 
xailroad  construction,  he  said : 

“Our  whole  country  will  be  brought  together  at  the 
grand  centre  in  the  short  space  of  four  days , allowing  us 
not  only  to  transport  passengers,  but  all  descriptions  of 
merchandise  and  produce,  from  the  grand  center  to  New 
Orleans,  Savannah,  Charleston,  Richmond  and  Norfolk, 
Washington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Bos- 
ton, and  to  the  Pacific,  in  the  same  time,  four  days;  and 
from  the  Pacific  to  any  of  the  above  cities  in  less  than 
eight  days , and  to  China  in  twenty  days;  so  that  we  can 
bring  our  vast  country  together  in  four  days , and  the  ex- 
tremes of  the  globe  in  thirty  days . A cargo  of  teas  from 
China  may  then  be  delivered  in  any  of  our  Atlantic  cities 
in  thirty  days  and  in  London  or  Liverpool  in  less  than 
forty -Jive  days .” 

Judge  Breese  was  one  of  the  truly  great  men  of  his  day, 
and  his  highest  ambition  seemed  to  be  to  do  something 
that  would  benefit  his  country  and  mankind,  and  few 
men  have  accomplished  more  in  that  direction  than  he. 

From  the  first  advent  of  Judge  Breese  into  the  State 
to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  held  public  office,  but  it  is 
also  true  that  the  office  sought  him  more  that  he  sought 
it.  He  was  a native  of  New  York,  born  July  15,  1800; 
and  in  company  with  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  came  to  Illinois 
in  1818,  arriving  at  Shawneetown  by  a flat-boat,  and  from 
thence  he  made  his  way  across  the  country  to  Kaskaskia, 
then  the  seat  of  government,  where  he  was  made  Assis- 
tant Secretary  of  State,  under  Elias  Kent  Kane,  who  had 
been  a schoolmate  in  New  York,  and  at  whose  solicita- 
tion he  came  West.  One  of  his  earliest  achievements  was 
the  compilation  and  publication  of  the  Reports  of  the 
Supreme  Court  from  the  years  1818  to  1881;  and  it  is 
said  of  him  that  he  personally  superintended  their  print- 
ing, and  actually  set  much  of  the  type.  He  was  Post- 
master of  Kaskaskia,  Circuit  Attorney  under  the  admin- 
istrations of  Governors  Bond  and  Coles;  U.  S.  District 


270 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


Attorney  under  President  Adams;  Circuit  Judge,  Chief 
Justice,  United  States  Senator  for  six  years;  Representa- 
tive in  the  Seventeenth  General  Assembly  in  1851-52,  and 
Speaker  of  that  body;  and  in  1857  he  was  again  elected 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  which  position  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  until  his  death,  which  occurred  June  28, 1,878. 

Judge  Breese  may  justly  be  styled  a benefactor  of  his 
country,  for  he  seemed  to  have  filled,  at  the  close  of  a 
long  and  useful  life,  in  full  measure,  the  work  God  and 
nature  had  assigned  him. 

Politically,  Judge  Breese  died  as  he  had  lived,  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Democratic  party. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT- 1879. 


Governor — Shelby  M.  Cullom. 

Lieutenant-Governor — Andrew  Shuman. 

Secretary  of  State — Geo.  H.  Harlow. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — T.  B.  Needles. 

Treasurer — John  C.  Smith. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Jas.  P.  Slade. 
Attorney  General — Jas.  K.  Edsall. 

Thirty-first  General  Assembly. 

The  Thirty-first  General  Assembly  convened  January  8, 
and  was  composed  of  the  following  members. 

Senate. 

George  E.  White,  Chicago.  W.  T.  Johnston,  Chicago. 
Daniel  N.  Bash,  Chicago.  M.  A.  DeLany,  Chicago. 
Sylvester  Artley,  Chicago.  W.  J.  Campbell,  Chicago. 
Francis  A.  Riddle,  Chicago.  M.  L.  Joslyn,  Woodstock. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


271 


C.  E.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 

R.  H.  McClellan,  Galena. 
Charles  Bent,  Morrison. 

H.  D.  Dement,  Dixon. 

J.  R.  Marshall,  Yorkville. 

J.  H.  Mayborne,  Geneva. 
Sylvester  W.  Munn,  Joliet. 
T.  P.  Bonfield,  Kankakee. 

S.  R.  Lewis,  Ottawa. 

S.  T.  Fosdick,  Chatsworth. 
L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
Henry  J.  Frantz,  Roanoke. 
Milton  M.  Ford,  Galva. 

B.  C.  Taliaferro,  Keithsburg. 
Wm.  H.  Neece,  Macomb. 
Wm.  Scott,  Dallas  City. 
Meredith  Walker,  Canton. 
John  S.  Lee,  Peoria. 

Abram  Mayfield,  Lincoln. 

J . M.  Hamilton,  Bloomington 
Wm.  T.  Moffett,  Decatur. 

C.  P.  Davis,  Monticello. 


George  Hunt,  Paris. 

Malden  Jones,  Tuscola. 

E.  N.  Rinehart,  Effingham. 

E.  South  worth,  Litchfield. 
Wm.  E.  Shutt,  Springfield. 
Luther  Dearborn,  Havana. 
Maurice  Kelly,  Liberty. 

Wm.  R.  Archer,  Pittsfield. 
Wm.  P.  Callon,  Jacksonville. 
G.  W.  Herdman,  Jersey ville. 
A.  J.  Parkinson,  Highland. 

F.  E.  W.  Brink,  Hoylton. 
Thos.  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 

R.  P.  Hanna,  Fairfield. 
Wm.  C.  Wilson,  Robinson. 
Chas.  E.  McDowell,  Carmi. 

S.  L.  Cheaney,  Harrisburg. 
Ambrose  Hoener.  Waterloo. 
John  Thomas,  Belleville. 
Jesse  Ware,  Jonesboro. 

A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Vienna. 


House  of  Representatives. 


W.  H.  Thompson,  Chicago. 
M.  J.  Wentworth,  Chicago. 

D.  W.  Clark,  Jr.,  Chicago. 
Benj.  M.  Wilson,  Chicago. 

S.  P.  Hopkins,  Chicago. 
Patrick  T.  Barry,  Chicago. 
Leo  Meilbeck,  Chicago. 

T.  J.  Walsh,  Chicago. 

John  B.  Taylor,  Chicago. 
Lewis  H.  Bisbee,  Chicago. 

E.  B.  Sherman,  Chicago. 

J.  E.  Murray,  Chicago. 
Wm.  E.  Mason,  Chicago. 
Chas.  Ehrhardt,  Chicago. 
Thos.  F.  O’Malley,  Chicago. 
Christian  Meyer,  Chicago. 
Austin  Sexton,  Chicago. 
Horace  H.  Thomas,  Chicago. 
L.  C.  Collins  Jr,  Norwood  P’rk 

G.  G.  Struckman,  Hanover. 


B.  F.  Weber,  Havelock. 

F.  K.  Granger,  McHenry. 

W.  A.  James,  Highland  Park 
William  Price,  Waukegan. 
Omar  H.  Wright,  Belvidere. 
T.  Butterworth,  Rockford. 

H.  W.  Taylor,  Rockford. 
James  I.  Neff,  Freeport. 
Andrew  Hinds,  Oneco. 

Chas.  S.  Burt,  Dunleith. 
James  Shaw,  Mt.  Carroll. 
W.  H.  Allen,  Erie. 

J.  M.  Pratt,  Pratt. 

Frank  N.  Tice,  Forrest. 

B.  H.  *'  Trusdell,  Amboy. 

A.  P.  Dysart,  Nachusa. 

Wm.  M.  Byers,  Sycamore. 
R.  M.  Brigham,  Sandwich. 
Alonzo  B.  Smith,  Oswego. 
Edward  C.  Lovell,  Elgin. 


-.272 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


J.  G.  Wright,1  Naperville. 

J.  Herrington,  Geneva. 

J.  Keniston,  Wilton  Center. 
Fred  Kouka,  Beecher. 

Wm.  B.  Thomson,  Joliet. 
Conrad  Secrest,  Watseka. 

M.  H.  Peters,  Watseka. 

A.  Buck,  Pilot  Center. 

L.  B.  Crooker,  Mendota. 
Francis  Bowen,  Sheridan. 
David  Bichey,  Tonica. 
George  B.  Gray,  Pontiac. 

N.  E.  Stevens,  Paxton. 
Calvin  H.  Frew,  Paxton. 
Alfred  G.  Scott,  Sheffield. 

S.  F.  Otman,  Wyoming. 
Simon  Elliot,  Princeton. 

Joel  A.  Banney,  Cazenovia. 
Geo.  F.  Wightman,  Lacon. 
C.  Fosbender,  Sparland. 

A.  B.  Mock,  Cambridge. 
John  W.  Foy,  Atkinson. 

J.  W.  Simonson,  Port  Byron. 
Bufus  W.  Miles,  Gilson. 

J.  F.  Latimer,  Abingdon. 
John  Sloan,  Douglas. 

Henry  M.  Lewis,  Berwick. 
Henry  Black,  Doddsville. 
Edwin  W.  Allen,  Berwick. 

T.  B.  Brumback,  Plymouth. 
John  J.  Beaburn,  Denver. 

B.  B.  Hamilton,  Nauvoo. 
Hosea  Davis,  Littleton. 

C.  F.  Bobison,  Ellisville. 

W.  T.  McCreery, Birmingham, 

H.  B.  Chase,  Bobin’s  Nest. 
Bernard  Cremer,  Peoria. 

W.  Cockle,1  Peoria. 

David  H.  Harts,  Lincoln. 

G.  P.  Orendorff,  Hopedale. 
William  B.  Hall,  Pekin. 

T.  F.  Mitchell,  Bloomington. 

H.  A.  Ewing,  Bloomington. 
T.  P.  Bogers,  Bloomington. 


John  H.  Tyler,  DeWitt. 

Geo.  K.  Ingham,  Kenney. 

B.  K.  Durfee,  Decatur. 

Geo.  Scroggs,1  Champaign. 
James  Core,  Homer. 

Wm.  A.  Day,  Champaign. 
John  G.  Holden,  Danville. 

L.  Marston,  Hoopeston. 

B.  L.  McKinlay,  Paris. 

0.  B.  Ficklin,  Charleston. 

A.  Thomason,  Lovington. 
Henry  A.  Neal,  Charleston. 
W.  M.  Abraham,  Watson. 
James  L.  Byan,  Greenup. 

B.  Scarlett,  Moweaqua. 

J.  B.  Jones,  Taylorville. 

W.  Y.  Crosthwait,  Grove  City. 
Geo.  L.  Zink,  Litchfield. 

W.  L.  Gross,  Springfield. 
John  C.  Snigg,  Springfield. 
Carter  Tracy,  Bochester. 

J.  F.  Snyder,  Virginia. 

J.  W.  Savage,  Virginia. 
Jacob  Wheeler,1  Havana. 

S.  Mileham,  Camp  Point. 

A.  M.  Samuel,  Burton. 
Joseph  N.  Carter,  Quincy. 
Asa  C.  Matthews,  Pittsfield. 

S.  B.  Powell,  Winchester. 
Jas.  H.  Pleasants,  Hardin. 

1.  L.  Morrison,  Jacksonville. 

B.  Vasey,  Jacksonville. 

F.  M.  Bridges,  Carrollton. 
H.  W.  Wall,  Staunton. 

, J.  N.  English,  Jerseyville. 
Geo.  E.  Warren,  Jerseyville. 
W.  B.  Prickett,  Edwardsville. 
John  M.  Pearson,  Godfrey. 
John  S.  Dewey,  Troy. 

T.  D.  Hinckley,  Hoyleton. 
S.  W.  Jones,  Nashville. 
John  L.  Nichols,  Clement. 

J.  E.  W.  Hammond,  Omega. 
Francis  M.  Bolt,  Vandalia. 


designed. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


273 


James  S.  Jackson,  Iuka.  J.  T.  McBride,  Chester. 

J.  Zimmerman,  Mt.  Carmel.  J.  B.  McFie,  Coulterville. 
William  Bower,  Olney.  P.  C.  C.  Provart,  Paradise  Pr. 
Chas.  Churchill,  Albion.  T.  C.  Jennings,  East  St.  Louis. 
J.  B.  Johnson,  West  Liberty.  Joseph  Yeile,  Millstadt. 

J.  W.  Graham,  Marshall.  Henry  Seiter,  Lebanon. 

A.  J.  Beavell,  Bobinson.  C.H.  Layman,  Murphysboro. 
A.  M.  Green,  Mt.  Yernon.  T.  T.  Bobinson,  Pomona. 

J.  B.  Moss,  Mt.  Vernon.  T.  W.  Halliday,  Cairo. 

C.  M.  Lyon,  McLeansboro.  James  H.  Carter,  Vienna. 

J.  M.  Gregg,  Harrisburg.  H.  H.  Spencer,  Mound  City. 

S.  C.  Hall,  New  Haven.  T.  G.  Farris,1  Vienna. 

W.  Trammell,  Stone  Fort.  W.  V.  Eldredge,2  Golconda. 

Lieut.-Gov.  Shuman  presided  over  the  Senate.  John  M. 
Hamilton,  of  McLean,  was  elected  President  pro  tempore, 
over  Wm.  B.  Archer,  of  Pike,  by  a vote  of  27  to  22,  and  Jas. 
H.  Paddock,  of  Kankakee,  Secretary,  over  Edward  L. 
Merritt,  of  Sangamon,  by  a vote  of  27  to  22. 

In  the  House,  Wm.  A.  James,  of  Lake,  was  elected 
Speaker,  over  James  Herrington,  of  Kane,  by  a vote  of  81 
to  59,  and  W.  B.  Taylor,  of  Marshall,  Clerk,  over  Jerry 
Crowley,  of  Cook,  by  a vote  of  78  to  62. 

On  the  10th  of  January,  the  message  of  the  Governor 
was  read  in  the  two  houses.  It  contained  the  usual  recom- 
mendations. 

The  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  on  the  21st  of  Jan- 
uary, and  Gen.  John  A.  Logan  was  elected  United  States 
Senator,  over  Gen.  John  C.  Black,  by  a vote  of  106  to  84. 
Gen.  Black  was  the  Democratic  candidate.  Ten  votes 
were  cast  for  Alexander  Campbell,  Greenback,  and  4 for 
John  McAulifife,  Socialist. 

The  principal  laws  passed  at  this  session,  exclusive  of 
the  appropriation  bills,  were  acts  to  create  a Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics ; to  protect  bank  depositors ; to  prevent 
fraud  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  butter;  to  provide 
for  the  construction,  repair  and  protection  of  drains,  ditches 


‘Died,  December  10, 1878. 
—18 


2Vice  Farris,  deceased. 


274 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  levees  across  the  lands  of  others ; to  amend  the  elec- 
tion law ; to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  fishes ; to  amend 
the  game  law ; to  amend  the  insurance  laws ; to  fix  the 
rate  of  interest;  to  provide  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
State  militia ; to  provide  for  the  safety  of  persons  employed 
in  coal  mines ; to  regulate  pawn-brokers ; to  regulate  the 
manner  of  applying  for  pardons ; to  amend  an  act  for  the 
protection  of  passengers  on  railroads ; to  amend  an  act  to 
regulate  public  warehouses;  to  amend  an  act  relating  to 
the  payment  of  county  and  city  railroad  indebtedness; 
to  amend  the  revenue  law ; to  amend  the  school  law,  and 
to  abolish  the  Board  of  State  House  Commissioners. 

The  duration  of  this  session  was  143  days. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1880, 


This  was  one  of  the  greatest  campaigns  within  a quarter  of 
a century.  The  aggregate  vote  for  the  five  electoral 
tickets — Democratic,  Republican,  Greenback,  Prohibition, 
and  Anti-Secret  Society — was  622,118.  As  seems  to  have 
become  the  custom,  the  Republicans  were  the  first  to  take 
action,  their  convention  meeting  May  20,  to  nominate  a 
State  ticket  and  appoint  delegates  to  the  National  Con- 
vention. Shelby  M.  Cullom  was  nominated  for  Governor ; 
John  M.  Hamilton,  for  Lieutenant-Governor;  Henry  D. 
Dement,  for  Secretary  of  State;  Charles  P.  Swigert,  for 
Auditor;  Edward  Rutz,  for  Treasurer,  and  James  McCart- 
ney, for  Attorney-General. 

The  Greenback  party  met  June  9,  and  nominated  A.  J. 
Streeter,  for  Governor,  Andrew  M.  Adair,  for  Lieutenant 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


275 


Governor;  J.  M.  Thompson,  for  Secretary  of  State;  W. 
T.  Ingram,  for  Auditor;  J.  W.  Evans,  for  Treasurer,  and 
H.  G.  Whitlock,  for  Attorney-General. 

The  Democrats  met  June  10,  and  nominated  Lyman 
Trumbull,  for  Governor ; Lewis  B.  Parsons,  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor;  John  H.  Oberly,  for  Secretary  of  State;  Louis 
C.  Starkel,  for  Auditor;  Thomas  Butterworth,  for  Treas- 
urer, and  Lawrence  Harmon,  for  Attorney-General. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  met  at  Chicago, 
June  2,  and  nominated  James  A.  Garfield  for  President, 
and  Chester  A.  Arthur  for  Vice-President. 

The  Greenback  party  met  in  the  same  city  in  June,  and 
nominated  James  B.  Weaver,  of  Iowa,  for  President,  and 
B.  J.  Chambers  for  Vice-President. 

The  Democrats  met  at  Cincinnati  in  July,  and  nomi- 
nated Winfield  S.  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  President, 
and  William  H.  English,  of  Indiana,  for  Vice-President. 

The  Republicans  made  a bold,  aggressive  canvass,  taking 
as  the  keynote  of  the  campaign  the  tariff  question. 

Although  the  Democratic  ticket  was  composed,  for  the 
most  part,  of  men  of  eminent  ability,  they  did  not  enter 
upon  a general  discussion  of  the  issues  which  divided  the 
parties,  but  made  the  campaign  more  in  the  character  of 
personal  visits  among  the  people ; but  an  active  and  vig- 
orous assault  was  kept  up  all  along  the  line  by  the 
champions  of  their  national  ticket. 

The  Greenback  party  made  but  little  effort,  understand- 
ing, as  its  leaders  did,  that  its  cause  was  utterly  hopeless. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  State  officers,  Congressmen  and 
Presidential  electors,  is  as  follows : 

Governor. 


Shelby  M.  Cullom,  R 314,565 

Lyman  Trumbull,  D 277,532 

A.  J.  Streeter,  G 28,898 

Uriah  Copp,  Jr 122 


276 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Lieutenant-Governor. 

John  M.  Hamilton,  R 317,160 

Lewis  B.  Parsons,  D 275'  966 

Andrew  M.  Adair,  G 26'774 

J.  R.  Lawrence ’l79 

Secretary  of  State. 

Henry  D.  Dement,  R 317,422 

John  H.  Oberly,  D 277,122 

J.  M.  Thompson,  G 26’687 

Samuel  Reed 127 

Auditor. 

Charles  P.  Swigert,  R 317,872 

Louis  C.  Starkel,  D 276,440 

W.  T.  Ingram,  G 26,213 

W.  L.  Cressy 126 

Treasurer. 

Edward  Rutz,  R 317,732 

Thomas  Butterworth,  D 276,670 

J.  W.  Evans,  G 26,658 

George  Harrington 182 

Attorney-General. 

James  McCartney,  R 318,173 

Lawrence  Harmon,  D : 176,062 

H.  G.  Whitlock,  G 26,207 

Alsey  B.  Lee 129 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

William  Aldrich,  R 22,307 

John  Mattocks,  D 18,024 

Richard  Powers 532 

J.  Altpeter 605 

Second  District. 

George  <R.  Davis,  R 20,603 

John  E.  Farnsworth,  Ind 16,014 

O.  A.  Bishop 29 

Charles  G.  Dixon 461 

Reinhard  Loremy 514 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  277 

Third  District. 

Charles  B.  Farwell,  R 16,627 

Perry  H.  Smith,  Jr.,  D 11,903 

Charles  H.  Adams 221 

Oscar  Neebe 141 

Adolph  Waldmann 114 

Fourth  District. 

John  C.  Sherwin,  R 20,381 

Norman  C.  Warner,  D 8,055 

E.  W.  Blaisdell 1,159 

Fifth  District. 

Robert  M.  A.  Hawk,  R 17,061 

Larmar  G.  Johnson,  D 7,468 

John  M.  King 4,160 

Sixth  District. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  R 16,650 

B.  H.  Truesdell,  D 9,631 

P.  L.  McKinney 2,637 

Seventh  District. 

William  Cullen,  R 16,628 

Daniel  Evans,  D 12,064 

Royal  E.  Barber 2,204 

Eighth  District. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  R 16,704 

Robert  R.  Wallace.  D. 13,972 

Ninth  District. 

John  H.  Lewis,  R 14,658 

John  S.  Lee,  D 14,294 

Wm.  H.  Reynolds,  P 2,548 

Tenth  District. 

Benj.  F.  Marsh,  R 14,798 

Robert  Holloway,  D 13,877 

George  C.  Meador 713 

Eleventh  District. 

James  W.  Singleton,  D 17,842 

William  H.  Edgar,  D 12,490 

A.  B.  Allen 1,765 


278  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Twelfth  District. 

William  M.  Springer,  D 17,890 

Isaac  L.  Morrison,  R 14,761 

Hy.  M.  Miller 1,557 

Thirteenth  District. 

Deitrich  C.  Smith,  R 16,483 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  (4.  D 16,115 

Fourteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  R 19,710 

James  R.  Scott,  D 17,734 

Fifteenth  District. 

Samuel  W.  Moulton,  D 19,364 

Albert  G.  Forsythe,  G 16,810 

Sixteenth  District. 

William  A.  J,  Sparks,  D 15,392 

P.  E.  Hosmer,  R 13,921 

G.  W.  Rutherford 1,331 

Seventeenth  District. 

Wm.  R.  Morrison,  D 16,950 

John  B.  Hay,  R 15,986 

Eighteenth  District. 

John  R.  Thomas,  R 16,873 

William  Hartzell,  D 15,146 

A.  B.  Roberson 1,002 

Nineteenth  District. 

Richard  W.  Townshend,  D 18,021 

Charles  W.  Pavey,  R 14,561 

Samuel  E.  Flannagan,  G 1,456 

Electors — Garfield. 

George  Schneider 318,020 

Ethelbert  Callahan 318,031 

Robert  T.  Lincoln 318,037 

J.  M.  Smyth 318,033 

James  A.  Kirk 318,036 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


279 


C.  M.  Brazee 318,018 

JR.  E.  Logan 318,033 

I.  H.  Elliott 318,031 

James  Goodspeed 318,033 

Alfred  Sample 318,027 

S.  D.  Puterbaugh 318,031 

E.  C.  Humphrey 318,030 

'William  A.  Grimshaw 318,033 

J.  C.  McQuigg 318,024 

J.  H.  Bowell 318,033 

William  R.  Jewell 318,034 

J.  M. Sheets ,...  318,030 

James  W.  Peterson 318,028 

W.  T.  Norton 318,033 

George  W.  Smith 318,033 

William  H.  Johnson 317,879 

Hancock. 

William  J.  Allen 277,314 

James  S.  Ewing .• 277,307 

William  C.  Seipp 277,321 

William  J.  Hynes 277,311 

F.  A.  Hoffman,  Jr 277,312 

T.  B.  Coulter 277,313 

Frederick  StaM 277,312 

J.  S.  Eckles 277,311 

Patrick  Healey 277,311 

Louis  F.  Feilitzsch 277,313 

James  W.  Butler 277,314 

William  G.  Ewing 277,313 

Lloyd  F.  Hamilton 277,312 

Ambrose  M.  Miller 277,311 

William  M.  Bandy 277,312 

Robert  L.  McKinlay 277,311 

John  W.  Westcott 277,312 

James  M.  Dill 277,312 

Monroe  C.  Crawford 277,313 

George  S.  Fuhr 277,310 

Edmund  D.  Youngblood 277,225 

Independent  Greenback. 

Alexander  Campbell 26,191 

Jesse  Harper 26,288 

O.  J.  Smith 26,358 

B.  S.  Heath 26,355 


280 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Richard  Griffiths 26,829’ 

E.  T.  Reeves 26,347 

J.  M.  Pratt 26,353 

Simon  Elliott 26,354 

Fawcett  Plumb 26,354 

Thomas  Wolfe 26,354 

J.  B.  Neyley 26,353 

S.  T.  Shelton . 26,356 

W.  L.  Oliver . ... ..  26,354 

A.  G.  Mantz 26,345 

Frank  P.  Hobart 26,353 

William  Pitt 26,354 

George  Dalby 26,353 

W.  L.  F.  Stoddard 26,352 

J.  A.  Clendenning 26,353 

Henry  Winter 26,354 

James  H.  Smith 26,352 


The  Prohibitionists  had  an  electoral  ticket  at  this  elec- 
tion, which  received  440  votes,  and  also  the  Anti-Secrefc 
Society  party,  which  received  153  votes. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

ULYSSES  S,  GRANT. 


How  lie  First  Entered  the  Army  in  the  War  for  the  Union— His  Corre- 
spondence With  Lee— An  Insult  to  the  President  and  the  Nation. 


The  name  of  this  distinguished  soldier  and  eminent 
statesman  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  politics  of 
Illinois,  and  while  we  may  not  be  able  to  say  much  that 
is  new  of  him,  yet  we  have  collected  some  matters  con- 
nected with  his  life  which  should  be  treasured  in  a volume 
of  this  character,  and  which  cannot  otherwise  be  found 
without  much  research. 


. 


library 

0*  1 HE 

•fr  OF  ILLINOIS 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


281. 


Gen.  Grant’s  native  State  is  Ohio ; he  was  born  in  Cler- 
mont county,  in  the  town  of  Point  Pleasant,  April  27, 
1822 ; he  was  educated  at  West  Point,  graduating  in  1848  ; 
was  second  lieutenant  in  the  Fourth  Infantry;  served  in 
the  Mexican  war,  and  participated  in  nearly  every  battle ; 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain;  he  resigned  his 
commission  in  1854,  and  took  up  his  residence  on  a farm 
near  St.  Louis ; in  1859  he  came  to  Illinois,  locating  at 
Galena,  where  he  was  residing  when  the  war  for  the  Union 
ensued. 


How  Grant  Entered  the  Army. 

Governor  Yates,  in  his  last  biennial  message  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1865,  thus  graphically  tells  how  Gen. 
Grant  first  entered  the  service  of  his  country  in  1861: 

“ Prominent  among  the  many  distinguished  names  who 
have  borne  their  early  commissions  from  Illinois,  I refer, 
with  special  pride,  to  the  character  and  priceless  services 
to  the  country  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  In  April,  1861,  he 
tendered  his  personal  services  to  me,  saying  ‘that  he  had 
been  the  recipient  of  a military  education  at  West  Point, 
and  that  now,  when  the  country  was  involved  in  a war 
for  its  preservation  and  safety,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to 
offer  his  services  in  defense  of  the  Union,  and  that  he 
would  esteem  it  a privilege  to  be  assigned  to  any  position 
where  he  could  be  useful.’  The  plain,  straightforward 
demeanor  of  the  man,  and  the  modesty  and  earnestness 
which  characterized  his  offer  of  assistance,  at  once  awak- 
ened a lively  interest  in  him,  and  impressed  me  with  a 
desire  to  secure  his  counsel  for  the  benefit  of  volunteer 
organizations  then  forming  for  Government  service.  At 
first  I assigned  him  a desk  in  the  Executive  office;  and 
his  familiarity  with  military  organization  and  regulations 
made  him  an  invaluable  assistant  in  my  own  and  the 
office  of  the  Adjutant-General.  Soon  his  admirable  quali- 
ties as  a military  commander  became  apparent,  and  I 
assigned  him  to  command  of  the  camps  of  organization 
at  ‘Camp  Yates,’  Springfield,  ‘Camp  Grant,’  Mattoon,  and 
‘Camp  Douglas,’  at  Anna,  Union  county,  at  which  the 
7th,  8th,  9th,  10th,  11th,  12th,  18th,  19th  and  21st  regi- 
ments of  Illinois  Volunteers,  raised  under  the  call  of  the* 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


President  of  the  15th  of  April,  and  under  the  ‘Ten  Regi- 
ment Bill,’  of  the  extraordinary  session  of  the  Legislature, 
convened  April  28,  1861,  were  rendezvoused.  His  employ- 
ment had  special  reference  to  the  organization  and  muster 
of  these  forces — the  first  six  into  United  States,  and  the 
last  three  into  the  State  service.  This  was  accomplished 
about  the  10th  of  May,  1861,  at  which  time  he  left  the 
State  for  a brief  period,  on  a visit  to  his  father,  at  Cov- 
ington, Kentucky. 

“The  21st  regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers,  raised  in 
Macon,  Cumberland,  Piatt,  Douglas,  Moultrie,  Edgar, 
Clay,  Clark,  Crawford  and  Jasper  counties,  for  thirty-day 
State  service,  organized  at  the  camp  at  Mattoon,  prepar- 
atory to  three  years’  service  for  the  Government,  had 
become  very  much  demoralized,  under  the  thirty  days’ 
experiment,  and  doubts  arose  in  relation  to  their  accept- 
ance for  a longer  period.  I was  much  perplexed  to  find 
an  efficient  and  experienced  officer  to  assume  command 
of  the  regiment,  and  take  it  into  the  three  years’  service. 
I ordered  the  regiment  to  Camp  Yates,  and  after  consult- 
ing Hon.  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  who  had  many  friends  in  the 
regiment,  and  Col.  John  S.  Loomis,  Assistant  Adjutant- 
General,  who  was  at  the  time  in  charge  of  the  Adjutant- 
General’s  office,  and  on  terms  of  personal  intimacy  with 
Grant,  I decided  to  offer  the  command  to  him,  and  accord- 
ingly telegraphed  Captain  Grant,  at  Covington,  Kentucky, 
tendering  him  the  Colonelcy.  He  immediately  reported, 
accepting  the  commission,  taking  rank  as  Colonel  of  that 
regiment  from  the  15th  day  of  June,  1861.  Thirty  days 
previous  to  that  time  the  regiment  numbered  over  one 
thousand  men,  but  in  consequence  of  laxity  in  discipline 
of  the  first  commanding  officer,  and  other  discouraging 
obstacles  connected  with  the  acceptance  of  troops  at  that 
time,  but  six  hundred  and  three  men  were  found  willing 
to  enter  the  three  years’  service.  In  less  than  ten  days 
Col.  Grant  filled  the  regiment  to  the  maximum  standard, 
and  brought  it  to  a state  of  discipline  seldom  attained  in 
the  volunteer  service,  in  so  short  a time.  His  was  the 
only  regiment  that  left  the  camp  of  organization  on  foot. 
He  marched  from  Springfield  to  the  Illinois  river,  but,  in 
an  emergency  requiring  troops  to  operate  against  Missouri 
rebels,  the  regiment  was  transported,  by  rail,  to  Quincy, 
and  Col.  Grant  was  assigned  to  the  command  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Quincy  and  Palmyra  and  Hannibal  and  St. 
Joseph  railroads.  He  soon  distinguished  himself  as  a regi- 
mental commander  in  the  field,  and  his  claims  for  increased 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


283 


lank  were  recognized  by  his  friends  in  Springfield,  and  his 
promotion  insisted  upon  before  his  merits  and  services 
were  fairly  understood  at  Washington.  His  promotion 
was  made  upon  the  ground  of  his  military  education, 
fifteen  years’  services  as  a Lieutenant  and  Captain  in  the 
regular  army  (during  which  time  he  wTas  distinguished  in 
the  Mexican  war),  his  great  success  in  organizing  and 
disciplining  his  regiment,  and  for  his  energetic  and  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  the  campaign  in  North  Missouri,  and 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  entered  into  the  great  work 
of  waging  war  against  the  traitorous  enemies  of  his  coun- 
try. His  first  great  battle  was  at  Belmont,  an  engage- 
ment which  became  necessary  to  protect  our  southwestern 
army  in  Missouri  from  overwhelming  forces  being ; rapidly 
consolidated  against  it  from  Arkansas,  Tennessee  and 
Columbus,  Kentucky.  The  struggle  was  a desperate  one, 
but  the  tenacity  and  soldierly  qualities  of  Grant  and  his 
invincible  little  army  gave  us  the  first  practical  victory 
in  the  West.  The  balance  of  his  shining  record  is  indeli- 
bly written  in  the  history  of  Henry,  Donelson,  Shiloh, 
Corinth,  Vicksburg,  Chattanooga,  the  Wilderness,  seige  of 
Bichmond,  and  the  intricate  and  difficult  command  as 
Lieutenant-General  of  the  armies  of  the  Union — writteninthe 
blood  and  sacrifices  of  the  heroic  braves  who  have  fallen, 
while  following  him  to  glorious  victory — written  upon  the 
hearts  and  memories  of  the  loyal  millions  who  are  at  the 
hearthstones  of  our  gallant  and  unconquerable  ‘Boys  in 
Blue.’  The  impress  of  his  genius  stamps  our  armies,  from 
one  end  of  the  Bepublic  to  the  other ; and  the  secret  of  his 
success  in  executing  his  plans,  is  in  the  love,  enthusiasm 
and  confidence  he  inspires  in  the  soldier  in  the  ranks, 
the  harmony  and  respect  of  his  subordinate  officers,  his 
own  respect  for  and  deference  to  the  wishes  and  com- 
mands of  the  President,  and  his  sympathy  with  the  Gov- 
ernment in  its  war  policy. 

“As  evidence  of  the  materials  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
for  war  purposes,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  a pleas- 
ing incident  of  Grant’s  career,  I refer  to  an  article  in  the 
Vicksburg  paper,  the  ‘Weekly  Sun,’  of  May  13,  1861,  which 
ridicules  our  enfeebled  and  unprepared  condition,  and  says  : 
‘An  official  report  made  to  Governor  Yates,  of  Illinois,  by 
one  Captain  Grant,  says  that  after  examining  all  the  State 
armories,  he  finds  the  muskets  amount  to  just  nine  hun- 
dred and  four,  and  of  them  only  sixty  in  servicable  con- 
dition.’ Now  the  name  of  that  man,  who  was  looking  up 


284 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  rusty  muskets  in  Illinois,  is  glory-crowned  with  shin- 
ing victories,  and  will  fill  thousands  of  history’s  brightest 
pages  to  the  end  of  time.  I know  well  the  secret  of  his 
power,  for  afterwards,  when  I saw  him  at  headquarters, 
upon  the  march,  and  on  the  battle  field,  in  his  plain, 
thread-bare  uniform,  modest  in  his  deportment,  careful  of 
the  wants  of  the  humblest  soldier,  personally  inspecting 
all  the  dispositions  and  divisions  of  his  army,  calm  and 
courageous  amidst  the  most  destructive  fire  of  the  enemy, 
it  was  evident  that  he  had  the  confidence  of  every  man, 
from  the  highest  officer  down  to  the  humblest  drummer 
boy  in  his  whole  command.  His  generalship  rivals  that 
of  Alexander  and  Napoleon,  and  his  armies  eclipse  those 
of  Greece  and  Eome  in  their  proudest  days  of  imperial 
grandeur.  He  is  a gift  of  the  Almighty  Father  to  the 
Nation,  in  its  extremity,  and  he  has  won  his  way  to  the 
exalted  position  he  occupies  through  his  own  great  perse- 
verence,  skill  and  indomitable  bravery.” 

His  Correspondence  with  Lee. 

The  following  is  the  correspondence  between  Gen.  Grant 
and  Gen.  Lee,  relating  to  the  surrender  of  Lee’s  army. 

"April  7,  1865. 

"General — The  result  of  the  last  week  must  convince 
you  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in  this  struggle.  I feel 
it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from  myself 
the  responsibility  of  the  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  ask- 
ing of  you  the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  army  of 
the  Confederate  States,  known  as  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

"U.  S.  Grant, 

"Gen.  R.  E.  Lee.”  "Lieutenant-General.” 

" April  7,  1865. 

"General — I have  received  your  note  of  this  date. 
Though  not  entertaining  the  opinion  you  express  on  the 
hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  I reciprocate  your  desire  to  avoid  use- 
less effusion  of  blood,  and,  therefore,  before  considering 
your  proposition,  ask  the  terms  you  will  offer  on  condi- 
tion of  its  surrender. 

“R.  E.  Lee, 

"Lieutenant-General  U.  S.  Grant.”  " General.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


285 


“April  8,  1865. 

44  General — Your  note  of  last  evening  in  answer  to 
mine  of  same  date,  asking  on  what  terms  I will  accept 
the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  is  just 
received.  In  reply,  I would  say,  that  peace  being  my  great 
desire,  there  is  but  one  condition  I would  insist  upon, 
namely,  that  the  men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be 
disqualified  from  taking  up  arms  against  the  government 
of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged.  I will 
meet  you,  or  will  designate  officers  to  meet  any  officers 
you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at  any  point  agree- 
able to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  definitely  the 
terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  will  be  received. 

“U.  S.  Grant, 

“R.  E.  Lee,  General.”  “Lieutenant-General.” 

“April,  8,  1865. 

“General — I received,  at  a late  hour,  your  note  of 
to-day.  In  mine,  of  yesterday,  I did  not  intend  to  pro- 
pose the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  but  to 
ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I do  not  think 
the  emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender  of  this 
army;  but  as  the  restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole 
object  of  all,  I desired  to  know  whether  your  proposals 
would  lead  to  that  end.  I can  not,  therefore,  meet  you 
with  a view  to  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  ; but  as  far  as  your  proposal  may  affect  the  Con- 
federate forces  under  my  command,  and  tend  to  the  res- 
toration of  peace,  I should  be  pleased  to  meet  you  at  10 
a.  m.  to-morrow,  on  the  old  stage-road  to  Richmond,  be- 
tween the  picket  lines  of  the  two  armies. 

“R.  E.  Lee, 

“U.  S.  Grant,  Lieutenant-General.”  “General.” 

“April  9,  1865. 

“General — Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  I have 
no  authority  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace.  The  meet- 
ing proposed  for  10  a.  m.  could  do  no  good.  I will  state, 
however,  General,  that  I am  equally  anxious  for  peace 
with  yourself,  and  the  whole  North  entertains  the  same 
feeling.  The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had,  are 
well  understood.  By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms, 
they  will  hasten  that  most  desirable  event,  save  thousands 
of  human  lives  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  property  not 


286 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


yet  destroyed.  Seriously  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties 
may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I subscribe 
myself,  etc. 

“U.  S.  Grant, 

“R.  E.  Lee,  General.”  “Lieutenant-General.’' 

“April  9,  1865. 

“General — I received  your  note  of  this  morning,  on 
the  picket  line,  whither  I had  come  to  meet  you,  and 
ascertain  definitely  what  terms  were  embraced  in  your 
proposal  of  yesterday,  with  reference  to  the  surrender  of 
this  army.  I now  ask  an  interview  in  accordance  with 
the  offer  contained  in  your  letter  of  yesterday,  for  that 
purpose. 

“R.  E.  Lee, 

“Lieutenant-General  Grant.”  “General.” 

“Appomattox  Court  House,  Va.,  April  9,  1865. 

“General — In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my 
letter  to  you  of  the  8th  instant,  I propose  to  receive  the 
surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  on  the  fol- 
lowing terms,  to-wit : Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be 
made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to 
be  designated  by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such 
officer  or  officers  as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to 
give  their  individual  paroles  not  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  ex- 
changed; and  each  company  or  regimental  commander 
sign  a like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands.  The 
arms,  artillery,  and  public  property  to  be  parked  and 
stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me 
to  receive  them.  This  will  not  embrace  the  side-arms  of 
the  officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  baggage.  This 
done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to 
his  home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  the  United  States’ 
authority  as  long  as  they  observe  their  paroles  and  the 
laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

“U.  S.  Grant, 

“General  R.  E.  Lee.”  “Lieutenant-General.” 

“Headquarters  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 

“April  9,  1865. 

“General — I received  your  letter  of  this  date  contain- 
ing the  terms  of  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  as  proposed  by  you.  As  they  are  substantially 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


287 


the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your  letter  of  the  8th  in- 
stant, they  are  accepted.  I will  proceed  to  designate  the 
proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

“R.  E.  Lee, 

“Lieutenant-General  Grant.”  “General.” 

General  Grant  closed  his  final  report  on  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  in  these  words: 

“It  has  been  my  fortune  to  see  the  armies  of  both  the 
West  and  East  fight  battles,  and  from  what  I have  seen 
I know  there  is  no  difference  in  their  fighting  qualities. 
All  that  it  was  possible  for  men  to  do  in  battle,  they  have 
done.  The  Western  armies  commenced  their  battles  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  received  the  final  surrender  of 
the  remnant  of  the  principal  army  opposed  to  them  in 
North  Carolina.  The  armies  of  the  East  commenced  their 
battles  on  the  river  from  which  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
derived  its  name,  and  received  the  final  surrender  of  their 
old  antagonist  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  Virginia.  The 
splendid  achievements  of  each  have  nationalized  our  vic- 
tories, removed  all  sectional  jealousies  (of  which  we  have 
unfortunately  experienced  too  much),  and  the  cause  of 
crimination  and  recrimination  that  might  have  followed, 
had  either  section  failed  in  its  duty.  All  have  a proud 
record,  and  all  sections  can  well  congratulate  themselves 
and  each  other  for  having  done  their  full  share  in  restor- 
ing the  supremacy  of  law  over  every  foot  of  territory 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  Let  them  hope  for  per- 
petual peace  and  harmony  with  that  enemy  whose  man- 
hood, however  mistaken  the  cause,  drew  forth  such 
herculean  deeds  of  valor.” 

An  Insult  to  the  Nation  and  the  President. 

During  President  Grant’s  second  administration,  there 
was  a concerted  effort  upon  the  part  of  his  personal 
and  political  enemies  to  bring  his  name  into  utter 
disgrace.  We  refer  to  the  sad  spectacle  of  a causeless 
attempt  to  connect  the  name  of  this  grand  man  and  great 
soldier,  criminally  with  the  whisky-frauds  of  the  country. 
In  1875,  when  the  great  frauds  of  the  Whisky  Ring  of  the 
United  States  culminated  in  a complete  expose,  men  very 
close  to  the  administration  of  President  Grant,  and  high  in 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


authority,  were  arrested  and  tried  as  conspirators  in  the 
crimes  committed  by  that  ring,  and  a few  men  in  the  coun- 
try hoped  it  would  be  shown  in  the  investigation  that 
followed  that  the  President  himself  would  be  found  to  be 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  frauds  which  would  result 
in  his  impeachment ; but  no  sooner  had  the  designs  of  his 
enemies  been  made  known  to  him,  than  this  brave,  silent 
man  sent  forth  the  official  direction  that  there  should  be 
the  most  thorough  investigation  of  the  charges  against  the 
men  who  had  been  implicated  in  the  whisky-frauds,  and 
to  let  no  guilty  man  escape,  no  matter  how  close  he  might 
claim  to  be  to  the  administration.  The  trial  of  these  men, 
as  most  of  our  readers  know,  was  of  the  most  searching 
character,  and  while  the  guilty  were  punished,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  President  Grant  had  been  made  the  subject  of 
the  most  wicked  and  foul  conspiracy  that  had  ever  been 
attempted  upon  mortal  man,  in  the  very  house  of  his 
friends;  but  he  came  out  of  the  trying  ordeal  like  pure 
gold,  and  the  verdict  of  the  people  of  the  whole  country 
was  that  he  was  as  innocent  of  any  connection  with  the 
infamy  of  that  ring  as  the  unborn  babe.  But  slander  loves 
a shining  mark.  Gen.  Grant  had  retired  from  the  presi- 
dency, had  traveled  around  the  world,  and  had  been 
received  by  the  people  and  governments  of  foreign  climes 
with  far  more  distinction  than  any  citizen  of  this  country 
who  had  ever  traveled  abroad.  In  his  absence,  and  with- 
out consulting  his  wishes,  his  warm  political  friends  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  it  would  be  a fitting  tribute  to  the 
eminent  services  of  the  distinguished  soldier-citizen  to 
again  make  him  President  of  the  United  States,  and  then 
it  was  that  slander  raised  for  the  second  time  its  hydra- 
head.  John  McDonald,  who  had  been  severely  punished 
for  his  connection  with  the  whisky-frauds,  lent  himself  to 
certain  political  leaders  in  an  attempt  to  break  down  the 
character  of  Gen.  Grant  by  resuscitating  the  whisky  trials 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  289 

of  St.  Louis,  into  popular  book  form ; and  J.  W.  Buel,  a 
facile  and  pleasing  writer,  was  employed  to  do  the  work, 
which  he  did  with  a master  hand,  but  utterly  regardless 
of  the  truth  of  history  or  the  consequences  to  follow.  But 
to  the  consternation  of  the  political  leaders  engaged 
in  Mr.  McDonald’s  infamous  book  enterprise,  Gen.  Grant 
did  not  receive  the  Bepublican  nomination  for  President ; 
and  although  the  advent  of  the  book  had  been  extensively 
advertised  in  all  the  leading  Democratic  journals  of  the 
country,  and  in  many  of  the  Bepublican  papers  whose 
editors  were  opposed  to  his  nomination  for  a third  term, 
by  the  publication  of  liberal  extracts  from  the  most  striking 
features  of  its  pages,  it  came  forth  stillborn,  and  the  das- 
tardly slander,  intended  to  destroy  the  good  name  of  the 
man  who  had  done  so  much  for  his  country  upon  the 
field  of  carnage,  and  won  for  it  imperishable  honors  abroad, 
went  out  like  a spark  in  the  ocean.  But  we  can  imagine 
nothing  so  debased  in  the  scale  of  infamy  as  an  attempt 
to  destroy  the  good  name  of  such  a man,  a man  who 
came  from  the  private  walks  of  life  in  1861,  and  modestly 
offered  himself  to  the  Governor  of  Illinois  as  a defender 
of  his  country ; a man  who  advanced  from  a clerkship  in 
the  Adjutant  General’s  office  in  his  State  to  the  proudest 
position  in  the  military  arm  of  his  Government;  a man 
who  advanced  to  the  highest  and  most  exalted  civil  station 
within  the  gift  of  the  people,  simply  by  the  force  of  his 
own  manly  moral  character,  and  without  asking  or  seek- 
ing the  advancement ; a man  whose  hands  were  known  to 
be  free  from  the  spoils  of  office,  to  be  charged  with  or  sus- 
pected of  such  corruption,  is  an  insult  to  him  and  his 
country,  for  which  there  can  be  no  adequate  atonement. 
God  has  not  allotted  to  man  a life  long  enough  to  atone 
for  such  an  offense;  for  such  an  indignity;  for  such  a 
crime. 


■19 


290 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1881. 


Governor — Shelby  M.  Cullom. 

Lieutenant-Governor — John  M.  Hamilton. 

Secretary  of  State — Henry  D.  Dement. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Chas.  P.  Swigert. 
Treasurer — Edward  Rutz. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — James  P.  Slade. 
Attorney-General — James  McCartney. 

Thirty-second  General  Assembly. 


The  Thirty-second  General  Assembly  convened  January 
5,  and  adjourned  May  30,  sine  die.  It  was  composed  of 
the  following  members. 

Senate. 


Geo.  E.  White,  Chicago. 

L.  D.  Condee,  Chicago. 
Sylvester  Artley,  Chicago. 
Chris.  Mamer,  Chicago. 
Fred.  C.  DeLang,  Chicago. 
Geo.  E.  Adams,  Chicago. 
W.  J.  Campbell,  Chicago. 
George  Kirk,  Waukegan. 
Chas.  E.  Fuller,  JBelvidere. 
D.  H.  Sunderland,  Freeport. 
Charles  Bent,  Morrison. 
Isaac  Rice,  Mt.  Morris. 

J.  R.  Marshall,  Yorkville. 
Henry  H.  Evans,  Aurora. 

S.  W.  Munn,  Joliet. 

Conrad  Secrest,  Watseka. 
Sam’l  R.  Lewis,  Ottawa. 
Geo.  Torrance,  Chatsworth. 
L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
Thomas.  M.  Shaw,*  Lacon. 
Milton  M.  Ford,  Galva. 


A.  W.  Berggren,  Galesburg. 
Wm.  H.  Neece,  Macomb. 
John  Fletcher,  Carthage. 
Meredith  Walker,  Canton. 
Andrew  J.  Bell,  Peoria. 
Abram  Mayfield,  Lincoln. 
Jos.  W.  Fifer,  Bloomington. 
Wm.  T.  Moffett,  Decatur. 
Jas.  S.  Wright,  Champaign. 
George  Hunt,  Paris. 

Horace  S.  Clark,  Mattoon. 
E.  N.  Rinehart,  Effingham. 
W.  T.  Yandeveer,  Taylorville, 
Wm.  E.  Shutt,  Springfield. 
Ed.  Laning,  Petersburg. 
Maurice  Kelly,  Liberty. 

Wm.  R.  Archer,  Pittsfield. 
W.  P.  Callon,  Jacksonville. 
C.  A.  Walker,  Carlinville. 

A.  J.  Parkinson,  Highland. 
T.  B.  Needles,  Nashville. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


291 


Thos.  E.  Merritt,  Salem.  Louis  Ihorn,  Harrisonville. 
John  R.  Tanner,  Louisville.  John  Thomas,  Belleville. 
Wm.  G.  Wilson,  Robinson.  W.  A.  Lemma,  Carbondale. 
J.  C.  Edwards,  McLeansboro.  A.  J.  Kuykendall,  Vienna. 
S.  L.  Cheaney,  Harrisburg. 

House  of  Representatives. 


David  Sullivan,  Chicago. 
Addis  L.  Rockwell,  Chicago. 
M.  R.  Harris,  Chicago, 

John  R.  Cook,  Chicago. 
Randall  H.  White,  Chicago. 
Orrin  S.  Cook,  Chicago. 
Thomas  Cloonan,  Chicago. 
George  W.  Kroll,  Chicago. 
Jos.  R.  Gorman,  Chicago. 

P.  J.  McMahon,  Chicago. 
John  L.  Parish,  Chicago. 
Robert  N.  Pearson,  Chicago. 
Wm.  A.  Phelps,  Chicago. 
Thos.  H.  McKone,  Chicago. 
S.  D.  Mieroslawski,  Chicago. 
Austin  0.  Sexton,  Chicago. 
Horace  H.  Thomas,  Chicago. 
Nathan  Plotke,  Chicago. 
Geo.  G.  Struckman,  Elgin. 
L.  C.  Collins,  Jr.,  Chicago. 
B.  F.  Weber,  Chicago. 

Orson  C.  Diggins,  Harvard. 
Jas.  Thompson,  Harvard. 
James  Pollock,  Millburn. 
Ed.  B.  Sumner,  Rockford. 
0.  H.  Wright,  Belvidere, 

L.  McDonald,  Pecatonica. 
William  Cox,  Winslow. 

E.  L.  Cronkrite,  Freeport. 
James  Bayne,  Warren. 

Wm.  H.  Allen,  Erie. 
Emanuel  Stover,  Lanark. 
Henry  Bitner,  Mt.  Carroll. 
Frank  N.  Tice,  Forreston. 
Alex.  P.  Dysart,  Nachusa. 
A.  F.  Brown,  Stillman  Valley. 
Henry  Wood,  Sycamore. 
Hiram  Loucks,  Somonauk. 


John  Clark,  Somonauk. 
Oliver  P.  Chisholm,  Elgin. 
Jas.  Herrington,  Geneva. 
Jas.  G.  Wright,  Naperville. 

E.  B.  Shumway,  Peotone. 
Michael  Collins,  Peotone. 
Harvey  Stratton,  Plainfield. 
Geo.  B.  Winter,  Onarga. 
James  Chatfield,  Momence, 
Edward  Rumley,  Gilman. 
Alex.  Vaughey,  Seneca. 
Isaac  Ames,  Streator. 

F.  M.  Robinson,  Seneca. 

J.  H.  Collier,  Gibson  City. 
A.  G.  Goodspeed,  Odell. 
Leander  L.  Green,  Odell. 
John  H.  Welsh,  Tiskilwa. 

S.  F.  Otman,  Wyoming. 
Charles  Baldwin,  Princeton. 
Euclid  Martin,  Minonk. 

C.  Stowell,  LaPrairie  Centre. 
Jas.  T.  Thornton,  Magnolia. 
A.  R.  Mock,  Cambridge. 

J.  W.  Simonson,  Port  Byron. 
Patrick  O’Mara,  Rock  Island. 
Martin  A.  Boyd,  Aledo. 

A.  P.  Petrie,  New  Windsor. 
Hannibal.  P.  Wood,  Wataga. 
Wm.  C.  McLeod,  Macomb. 
S.  B.  Davis,  Blandinville. 
Daniel  D.  Parry,  Monmouth. 
R.  A.  McKinley,  Biggsville. 
H.  M.  Whiteman,  Biggsville. 
James  Peterson,  Oquawka. 
Joseph  L.  McCune,  Ipava. 
Wm.  C.  Reno,  Browning. 
Inmon  Blackaby,  Giver. 

Jos.  Gallup,  Lawn  Ridge. 


292 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


David  Heryer,  Brimfield.  Oliver  Coultas,  Lynnville. 

J.  M.  Niehans,  Peoria.  Joseph  S.  Carr,  Kane. 

John  H.  Crandall,  Morton.  Balfour  Cowen,  Yirden. 

W.  B.  Harvey,  Washington.  J.  N.  English,  Sr.,  Jerseyv’le. 
Allen  Lucas,  Mt.  Pulaski.  A.  N.  Yancy,  Bunker  Hill. 
William  Hill,  Bloomington.  Henry  0.  Billings,  Alton. 
Geo.  B.  Okeson,  Lexington.  John  M.  Pearson,  Godfrey. 

T.  E.  Mitchell,  Bloomington.  Jones  Tontz,  Grant  Fork. 

L.  Ludington,  Farmer  City.  Fred.  Becker,  Germantown. 
Jason  Rogers,  Decatur.  John  L.  Nichols,  Clement. 

B.  K.  Durfee,  Decatur.  E.  H.  Simmons,  Greenville. 

Chas.  F.  Tenney,  Bement.  Iverson  M.  Little,  Yera. 
Ashbel  H.  Bailey,  Rantoul.  D.  W.  Andrews,  Centralia. 
H.  D.  Peters,  Monticello.  Mancil  A.  Harris,  Ramsey. 
Joseph  B.  Mann,  Danville.  Nathan  Crews,  Fairfield. 
Bradley  Butterfield,  Rankin.  James  Keen,  Six  Mile. 

John  G.  Holden,  Danville.  Ezra  B.  Keene,  Keensburg. 
Thomas  E.  Bundy,  Tuscola.  Jacob  C.  Olwin,  Robinson. 

J.  W.  R.  Morgan,  Sullivan.  James  C.  Bryan,  Marshall. 
Eugene  B.  Buck,  Charleston.  W.  H.  H.  Mieure,  L’wr’ncev’le 
Geo.  D.  Chafee,  Shelbyville.  C.  T.  Strattan,  Mt.  Vernon. 
A*  C.  Campbell,  Moweaqua.  Samuel  M.  Martin,  Carmi. 

F.  M.  Richardson,  Neoga.  R.  A.  D.  Wilbanks,  Mt.V’rn’n. 

R.  McWilliams,  Litchfield.  Milo  Erwin,  Crab  Orchard. 
Geo.  R.  Sharp,  Sharpsburg.  F.  M.  Youngblood,  Benton. 
Geo  W.  Paisley,  Hillsboro.  Jas.  M.  Gregg,  Harrisburg. 
A.  N.  J.  Crook,  Springfield.  Isaac  M.  Kelly,  DuQuoin. 
DeWitt  W.  Smith,  Bates.  W.  K.  Murphy,  Pinckneyv’le. 
Jas.  M.  Garland,  Springfield.  Austin  James,  Mitchie. 

L.  C.  Chandler,  Chandlerv’le.  John  N.  Perrin,  Belleville. 
Wm.  M.  Duffy,  San  Jose.  P.  H.  Postel,  Mascoutah. 

J.  H.  Shaw,  Beardstown.  Joseph  Veile,  Millstadt. 
Joseph  N.  Carter,  Quincy.  Harmon  H.  Black,  Cairo. 
John  McAdams,  Ursa.  David  T.  Linegar,  Cairo. 

Wm.  A.  Richardson,  Quincy.  H.  R.  Buckingham,  Alto  Pass. 
J.  L.  Underwood,  Barry.  William  A.  Spann,  Vienna. 
Wm.  Mortland,  Hardin.  W.  S.  Morris,  Elizabethtown. 

S.  R.  Powell,  Winchester.  John  D.  Young,  Pellona. 
Oman  Pierson,  Carrollton. 

Lieutenant-Governor  John  M.  Hamilton  presided  over 
the  Senate.  William  J.  Campbell,  of  Cook,  was  elected 
President  pro  tempore , over  YVm.  P.  Gallon,  of  Morgan, 
by  a vote  of  33  to  18,  and  James  H.  Paddock,  Secretary, 
over  L.  W.  S.  Kidd,  by  a vote  of  35  to  16. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


293 


In  the  House,  Horace  H.  Thomas,  of  Cook,  was  elected 
Speaker  over  Bradford  K.  Durfee,  of  Macon,  by  a vote  of 
81  to  71,  and  W.  B.  Taylor,  of  Marshall,  Clerk,  over 
Will  A.  Connelly,  of  Sangamon,  by  a vote  of  81  to  71. 

The  message  of  the  Governor  was  read  in  the  two 
houses  on  the  7th  of  January.  The  Canal,  Illinois  Na- 
tional Guard,  Agriculture,  State  Board  of  Health,  Char- 
itable Institutions,  Apportionment,  State  Library,  Douglas 
Monument,  and  Be  venue,  were  subjects  which  were  dis- 
cussed at  some  length,  and  the  usual  recommendations* 
as  to  proper  subjects  of  legislation  were  indulged  in. 

Exclusive  of  the  appropriation  acts,  laws  were  passed 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  pleuro-pneumonia  among  cattle ; 
to  amend  an  act  to  consolidate  the  offices  of  county  treas- 
urer and  county  assessor ; to  regulate  the  traffic  in  deadly 
weapons  and  prevent  their  sale  to  minors ; to  prevent  the 
adulteration  of  butter  and  cheese ; to  prevent  the  adul- 
teration of  articles  of  food,  drink  or  medicine ; to  fix  the 
times  of  election  of  county  officers  and  their  tenure;  to 
amend  the  insurance  laws ; to  define  legal  holidays ; to  reg- 
ulate the  practice  of  pharmacy ; to  require  officers  having 
in  their  custody  public  funds  to  prepare  and  publish 
annual  statements  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements;  to 
amend  the  revenue  law;  to  amend  the  school  law;  to 
secure  equality  in  the  matter  of  admitting  patients  into 
hospitals  for  the  insane,  and  to  provide  for  the  transfer 
of  patients  from  one  hospital  to  another. 

Special  Session. 

The  Governor  convened  this  General  Assembly  in  spe- 
cial session  March  28,  1882,  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
laws  apportioning  the  State  into  Congressional  and  Sena- 
torial districts,  and  for  other  purposes.  The  duration  of 
this  session  was  44  days. 


294 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


CHATPER  XLII. 

0,  H,  BROWNING, 


Unpublished  Correspondence  between  Browning  and  Lincoln— Browning’s 
Personal  Friendship  for  Lincoln,  and  his  Absolute  Loyalty  to  his  Gov- 
ernment. 


When  Senator  Douglas  died,  the  Democracy  made  an 
effort  to  have  W.  A.  Eichardson,  then  a member  of  Con- 
gress from  the  Quincy  district,  appointed  to  succeed  him, 
but  Governor  Yates  chose  to  fill  the  vacancy  by  the  selec- 
tion of  0.  H.  Browning,  of  the  same  city,  and  the  wisdom 
of  the  choice  was  soon  made  apparent,  for  Eichardson 
came  out  as  an  anti-war  man,  while  Browning  never 
wavered  for  a moment  in  loyalty  to  his  country’s  flag, 
but  if  anything,  he  was  somewhat  in  advance  of  the  Presi- 
dent upon  the  question  of  freeing  the  slaves,  for  when  the 
proclamation  of  Gen.  Fremont,  in  Missouri,  in  1861,  which 
declared  the  slaves  of  disloyal  men  free,  was  revoked,  Mr. 
Browning  was  deeply  concerned  over  the  matter,  and  wrote 
Mr.  Lincoln  an  earnest  letter  protesting  against  his  action, 
and  because  of  this  Mr.  Browning  was  charged  with  giving 
Mr.  Lincoln  only  a half-hearted  support  in  his  efforts 
to  overthrow  armed  treason;  and  the  great  injustice  was 
never  broadly  denied  until  after  his  death,  and  this  was 
on  the  occasion  of  the  memorial  address  of  Judge  C.  B. 
Lawrence  before  the  Illinois  Bar  Association,  at  Spring- 
field,  in  January,  1882,  when  he  read  the  reply  of  the 
President  to  that  letter,  and  Mr.  Browning’s  reply,  which 
had  not  before  been  made  public.  We  reproduce  Mr. 


' POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  295 

Lincoln’s  letter  in  full,  and  Mr.  Browning’s  reply,  omit- 
ting that  portion  of  it  which  discusses  the  merits  of  the 
case,  which  can  have  no  interest  at  this  time: 

“ Executive  Mansion, 
“Washington,  September  22,  1861. 
“ Hon.  0.  H.  Browning  : 

“ My  Dear  Sir — Yours  of  the  17th  is  just  received,  and, 
coming  from  you,  I confess  it  astonishes  me.  That  you 
should  object  to  my  adhering  to  a law  which  you  had 
assisted  in  making,  and  presenting  to  me,  less  than  a 
month  before,  is  odd  enough.  But  this  is  a very  small 
part.  General  Fremont’s  proclamation,  as  to  confiscation 
of  property,  and  the  liberation  of  slaves,  is  purely  politi- 
cal, and  not  within  the  range  of  military  law  or  necessity. 
If  a commanding  General  finds  a necessity  to  seize  the 
farm  of  a private  owner,  for  a pasture,  an  encampment, 
or  a fortification,  he  has  the  right  to  do  so,  and  to  so 
hold  it  as  long  as  the  necessity  lasts;  and  this  is  within 
military  law,  because  within  military  necessity.  But 
to  say  the  farm  shall  no  longer  belong  to  the  owner, 
or  his  heirs,  forever,  and  this,  as  well  when  the  farm  is 
not  needed  for  military  purposes  as  when  it  is,  is  purely 
political,  without  the  savor  of  military  law  about  it.  And 
the  same  is  true  of  slaves.  If  the  General  needs  them, 
he  can  seize  them  and  use  them,  but  when  the  need  is 
past,  it  is  not  for  him  to  fix  their  permanent  future  con- 
dition. That  must  be  settled  according  to  the  laws  made 
by  law-makers,  and  not  by  military  proclamations.  The 
proclamation,  in  the  point  in  question,  is  simply  ‘dicta- 
torship.’ It  assumes  that  the  General  may  do  any  thing 
he  pleases,  confiscate  the  lands  and  free  the  slaves  of 
loyal  people,  as  well  as  disloyal  ones.  And  going  the 
whole  figure,  I have  no  doubt,  would  be  more  popular 
with  some  thoughtless  people,  than  that  which  has  been 
done.  But  I cannot  assume  this  reckless  position;  nor 
allow  others  to  assume  it  on  my  responsibility. 

“You  speak  of  it  as  being  the  only  means  of  saving  the 
Government.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  surrender  of  the 
Government.  Can  it  be  pretended  that  it  is  any  longer 
the  Government  of  the  United  States — any  Government 
of  Constitution  and  Laws — wherein  a General  or  a Presi- 
dent may  make  permanent  rules  of  property  by  procla- 
mation. 


296 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ I do  not  say  Congress  might  not,  with  propriety,  pass* 
a law  on  the  point  just  such  as  Gen.  Fremont  proclaimed. 
I do  not  say  I might  not,  as  a member  of  Congress,  vote 
for  it.  What  I object  to  is  that  I,  as  President,  shall 
expressly  or  impliedly  seize  and  exercise  the  permanent 
legislative  functions  of  the  Government. 

“ So  much  as  to  principle.  Now  as  to  policy.  No  doubt 
the  thing  was  popular  in  some  quarters,  and  would  have 
been  more  so  if  it  had  been  a general  declaration  of  eman- 
cipation. The  Kentucky  Legislature  would  not  budge  till 
that  proclamation  was  modified,  and  Gen.  Anderson  tele- 
graphed me  that  on  the  news  of  Gen.  Fremont  having 
actually  issued  deeds  of  manumission,  a whole  company 
of  volunteers  threw  down  their  arms  and  disbanded.  1 was 
so  assured  as  to  think  it  probable  that  the  very  arms  we 
had  furnished  Kentucky  would  be  turned  against  us.  I 
think  to  lose  Kentucky  is  nearly  the  same  as  to  lose  the 
whole  game.  Kentucky  gone,  we  cannot  hold  Missouri, 
nor,  as  I think,  Maryland.  These  all  against  us,  and  the 
job  on  our  hands  is  too  much  for  us.  We  might  as  well 
consent  to  separation  at  once,  including  the  surrender  of 
this  capital.  On  the  contrary,  if  you  will  give  up  your 
restlessness  for  new  positions,  and  back  me  manfully  on 
the  grounds  upon  which  you  and  other  kind  friends  gave 
me  the  election,  and  have  approved  in  my  public  docu- 
ments, we  shall  go  through  triumphantly. 

“ You  must  not  understand  I took  my  course  on  the 
proclamation  because  of  Kentucky.  I took  the  same  ground, 
in  a private  letter  to  Gen.  Fremont  before  I heard  from 
Kentucky.  You  think  I am  inconsistent  because  I did 
not  also  forbid  Gen.  Fremont  to  shoot  men  under  the 
proclamation. 

“ I understand  that  part  to  be  within  military  law,  but 
I also  think,  and  so  privately  wrote  Gen.  Fremont,  that 
it  is  impolitic  in  this,  that  our  adversaries  have  the  power, 
and  will  certainly  exercise  it,  to  shoot  as  many  of  our  men 
as  we  shoot  of  theirs.  I did  not  say  this  in  the  public 
letter,  because  it  is  a subject  I prefer  not  to  discuss  in 
the  hearing  of  our  enemies. 

“ There  has  been  no  thought  of  removing  Gen.  Fremont 
on  any  grounds  connected  with  this  proclamation ; and  if 
there  has  been  any  wish  for  his  removal  on  any  ground,, 
our  mutual  friend,  Samuel  Glover,  can  probably  tell  you 
what  it  was.  I hope  no  real  necessity  for  it  exists  on  any 
ground.  “ Your  friend  as  ever, 

“A.  Lincoln.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


297 


Mr.  Browning’s  Reply. 

“ Quincy,  III.,  Sept.  30,  1861. 

“Mr.  President — Yours  of  the  22d  inst.  is  before  me. 
Fully  aware  of  the  multitude  and  magnitude  of  your 
engagements,  I certainly  did  not  expect  a moment  of  your 
valuable  time  to  be  consumed  in  replying  to  any  commu- 
nication of  mine,  but  am  very  greatly  obliged  to  you  for 
having  done  so. 

“ Occasionally,  since  the  beginning  of  our  troubles,  I 
have  taken  the  liberty  of  writing  you  and  giving  my 
opinions,  valueless  as  they  may  be,  upon  the  great  ques- 
tions which  agitate  the  nation,  and  which  we  are  bound, 
however  difficult  and  distressing  they  may  be,  in  some 
way  or  other  to  solve.  I have  also,  from  time  to  time, 
endeavored  to  give  you  a true  reflection  of  public  senti- 
ment, so  far  as  it  was  known  to  me.  I have  been  prompted 
to  this  course  by  a very  sincere  interest  in  your  individual 
welfare,  fame  and  fortune,  as  well  as  by  a painfully  intense 
anxiety  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  the  restoration  of  the  just  authority  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  triumph  of  as  holy  a cause,  in  my  judg- 
ment, as  ever  interested  men’s  feelings,  and  enlisted  their 
energies. 

“ I thought  that  whether  the  public  sentiment  here  and 
my  own  opinions  accorded  with  yours  or  not,  you  might 
still  be  not  only  willing  but  glad  to  know  them.  I have, 
therefore,  written  to  you  frankly  and  candidly,  but  have 
at  all  times  intended  to  be  both  kind  and  respectful,  and 
I regret  it  deeply  if  I have  failed  in  either,  as  some  pas- 
sages in  yours  lead  me  to  suspect  I have  only  annoyed 
you.  Nothing,  I assure  you,  has  been  further  from  my 
purpose.  Fully  appreciating  the  difficulties  and  embar- 
rassments of  your  position,  I would  be  as  ready  and  will- 
ing to  aid  you  by  any  personal  sacrifice  I could  make,  as 
I would  be  reluctant  to  add  to  your  harassments,  either 
by  fault-finding  or  by  solicitations.  I have  said  many 
things  to  you  which  I have  not  said  to  others.  Conscious 
of  the  great  injury  our  cause  would  sustain  by  any  weak- 
ening of  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  administration, 
I have  constantly  vindicated  both  its  men  and  its  meas- 
ures before  the  public,  and  when  I have  had  complaints 
or  suggestions  to  make  in  regard  to  either,  I have  made 
them  directly  to  you.  Others  have  not  known  of  them. 
This,  I thought,  was  demanded  alike  by  the  claims  of 
friendship  and  patriotism. 


298  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

“What  I said  in  regard  to  Gen.  Fremont  and  his  pro- 
clamation, was  in  accordance  with  this  feeling.  My 
acquaintance  with  him  has  been  very  limited,  and  I have 
had  no  personal  feeling  in  this  matter.  If  he  was  honestly 
and  faithfully  doing  his  duty,  justice  to  him  and  regard 
for  his  country  alike  required  that  he  should  be  sustained. 
There  was  much  complaint  and  clamor  against  him,  and 
as  I am  not  quick  to  take  up  evil  report,  I went  twice  to 
St.  Louis  to  see  and  learn  for  myself  all  that  I could.  It 
is  very  probable  he  has  made  some  mistakes,  but  in  the 
main  he  seemed  to  be  taking  his  measures  wisely  and  well. 
Many  of  the  charges  against  him  appeared  to  me  friv- 
olous, and  I did  not  know  of  any  one  who  could  take  his 
position  and  do  better  amid  the  surrounding  difficulties, 
and  was  confident  hifc  removal  at  the  time  and  under  the 
circumstances,  would  be  damaging  both  to  the  administra- 
tion and  the  cause.  Hence  I wrote  you,  as  I thought  it 
my  duty  to  do,  certainly  not  intending  any  impertinent 
interference  with  executive  duties,  or  expecting  what  I said 
to  have  any  greater  scope  than  friendly  suggestion.  . . 

“And  now,  Mr.  President,  permit  me  in  conclusion  to 
say,  in  all  kindness,  that  I am  not  conscious  of  any  ‘rest- 
lessness for  new  positions.’  New  positions  for  us  are  not 
necessary.  A firm  adherence  to  old  ones  is,  and  this  I 
am  sure  you  intend. 

“ Thus  far  I have  tried  to  ‘back  you  manfully,  upon  the 
grounds  upon  which  you  had  your  election.’ 

“ It  may  be  that  I have  done  it  feebly,  but  certainly  hon- 
estly and  earnestly;  and  I shall  be  one  of  the  last  to 
falter  in  support  of  either  our  principles  or  their  chosen 
exponent. 

“And  I am  very  sure  that  neither  for  yourself  nor  for 
the  country,  do  you  more  ardently  desire  that  ‘we  shall 
go  through  triumphantly,’  than  does  your  very  sincere  and 
faithful  friend,  0.  H.  Browning. ” 

This  correspondence  cannot  fail  to  demonstrate  two 
things,  which  have  not  been  before  well  settled  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  have  been  given  to  look  through  the 
vision  of  prejudice.  It  shows  that,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Lincoln’s  enemies,  the  abolition 
of  slavery  was  not  the  paramount  idea  of  his  nature,  but 
that  he  wished  to  preserve  the  Union,  and  leave  the 
question  of  slavery  to  adjust  itself,  as  circumstances  might 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


299 


direct.  The  other  thing  made  plain  is,  that  Mr.  Brown- 
ing was  never  wanting  in  a proper  regard  for  Mr.  Lincoln, 
or  in  devotion  to  the  union  of  the  States. 

In  justification  of  what  we  have  said  regarding  the  loy- 
alty of  Mr.  Browning  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, we  point  to  the  following  extract  from  a speech  made 
by  him  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  just  prior  to 
the  resignation  of  all  the  Southern  Senators : 

“ I say  it  with  no  passion,  Mr.  President,  but  I do  say, 
and  I think  I say  it  for  the  entire  country,  that  any  man 
or  set  of  men,  here  or  elsewhere,  who  delude  themselves 
with  the  idea  that  there  is  to  be  now,  or  at  any  time 
hereafter,  any  sort  or  character  of  compromise  patched 
up  with  treason,  by  which  the  war  is  to  be  brought  to  a 
close,  are  fatally  deceiving  themselves.  Mr.  President,  no 
terms  can  be  made  now  or  hereafter.  Let  the  consequences 
of  the  war  be  what  they  may,  no  terms,  now  or  at  any 
time  hereafter,  can  be  made  with  treason  and  rebellion. 
There  are  but  two  alternatives.  One  is  that  this  Govern- 
ment shall  be  overthrown  and  that  all  hope  for  Constitu- 
tional Government  shall  go  down;  and  the  other  is  that 
rebellion  shall  be  subdued,  shall  be  subjugated,  that  treason 
shall  be  punished,  and  this  Government  founded  upon  a 
rock,  firmer,  faster  than  it  has  hitherto  been,  and  upon 
which  hereafter  all  the  tempests  of  insurrection  and  dis- 
content shall  beat  in  vain.” 

After  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  President  Johnson 
appointed  Mr.  Browning  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  the 
duties  of  which  he  discharged  with  an  ability  which  did 
honor  to  his  name  and  an  integrity  that  was  never 
questioned.  The  troubles  which  environed  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Johnson,  and  the  attempt  made  to  remove 
him  by  impeachment,  estranged  Mr.  Browning  from  his 
old  party  associates,  and  he  ceased  to  act  with  the  Re- 
publican party. 

Mr.  Browning  was  by  birth  a Kentuckian,  removing  to 
Illinois  in  1830,  locating  at  Quincy,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  so  long  as  he  lived.  He  was  originally  a Whig, 
and  living  in  a strong  Democratic  district,  naturally  held 


300 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


but  few  public  trusts.  He  was  elected  a Senator  in  the 
tenth  General  Assembly,  in  1836,  and  opposed  the  wild 
legislation  on  the  question  of  internal  improvements  of 
that  time.  In  1843,  he  was  induced  to  run  for  Congress 
against  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  but  owing  to  the  large  Dem- 
ocratic majority  in  the  district  failed  of  an  election;  and 
his  appointment  as  the  successor  of  Douglas  in  the  United 
States  Senate  was  his  next  appearance  as  a public  man. 
After  his  retirement  from  Johnson’s  cabinet,  in  1869,  he 
was  elected  a member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
which  framed  our  present  Constitution,  and  to  him  is  due 
many  of  its  wise  and  excellent  provisions. 

Mr.  Browning  died  in  August,  1881,  in  the  75th  year  of 
his  age,  and,  in  closing  his  admirable  address,  Mr.  Law- 
rence paid  this  happy  and  fitting  tribute  to  his  memory: 

“ The  announcement  of  his  death  came  to  the  beautiful 
city  where  he  had  lived  so  long,  and  which  he  loved  so 
well,  like  a fearful  blow.  Its  most  honored  citizen  had 
gone.  For  fifty  years  he  had  been  their  trusted  leader  and 
adviser.  For  fifty  years  he  had  lived  among  them  a life 
which  made  no  man  his  foe,  but  all  men  his  friends.  For 
fifty  years  they  had  listened  to  his  eloquent  utterances  in 
the  courts  of  justice  and  on  the  public  platform,  in  times 
of  trouble  or  when  the  country  was  in  danger,  and  they 
had  always  gained  strength  and  courage  from  his  lips. 
For  fifty  years  he  had  spoken  to  them  words  of  wisdom, 
deepening  their  convictions  as  to  the  demands  of  patriot- 
ism and  public  duty.  For  fifty  years  he  had  dared  to  tell 
them  the  truth,  or  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  even 
when  he  knew  it  would  cause  a fleeting  cloud  between 
himself  and  them.  For  fifty  years  he  had  set  them  the 
example  of  a noble  life.  Little  wonder  that  the  town 
mourned. 

“ The  funeral  day  was  appointed.  Friends,  from  far  and 
near,  came  to  render  their  last  tribute  of  respect,  and  we 
felt,  as  we  laid  him  away  in  the  sunset  of  a summer  day, 
in  a beautiful  cemetery  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
beneath  the  shadows  of  the  silent  oaks,  that  a great  brain 
and  a great  heart  had  done  their  work,  and  another  tie 
between  ourselves  and  life  was  broken.” 


-POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


301 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

STATE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1882. 


The  campaign  of  1882  was  what  is  commonly  denom- 
inated the  “off  year,”  and  party  lines  were  not  so  closely 
drawn  as  in  the  Presidential  years.  The  Eepublicans 
nominated  John  C.  Smith  for  Treasurer,  and  Charles  T. 
Strattan  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  Democrats  nominated  Alfred  Orendorff  for  Treas- 
urer, and  Henry  Eaab  for  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction. 


The  Prohibitionists  nominated  John  G.  Irwin  for  Treas- 
urer, and  Elizabeth  B.  Brown  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

The  Greenbackers  nominated  Daniel  McLaughlin  for 
Treasurer,  and  Frank  H.  Hall  for  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 


The  aggregate  vote  of  the  respective  candidates,  as 
shown  by  the  canvass  made  by  the  General  Assembly,  was : 


Smith,  E 250,722 

Orendorff,  D 244,585 

McLaughlin,  L 15,511 

Irwin,  G.-B 11,130 

Smith’s  plurality 

Strattan,  E 250,276 

Eaab,  D 253,145 

Hall,  L 14,306 

Brown,  G.-B 11,202 

Eaab’s  plurality 


6,137 


2,869 


302 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Although  Mr.  Smith  was  elected  by  a plurality  of 
6,137,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  was  elected  over  Mr.  Strattan  by  a 
plurality  of  2,869.  There  were  three  causes  which  con- 
tributed to  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Strattan.  He  had  been  a 
minority  member  of  the  Thirty-second  General  Assembly, 
and  had  voted  in  favor  of  a bill  in  which  it  was  pro- 
posed to  submit  to  a vote  of  the  people  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  the  manufacture  or  sale 
of  spirituous  or  malt  liquors  as  a beverage.  This  he  had 
a right  to  do,  but  it  lost  him  the  vote  of  many  German 
Republicans.  While  on  the  other  hand  the  Prohibition 
Republicans  were  displeased  because  the  Republican  State 
Convention  had  voted  down  a resolution  which  proposed 
to  allow  the  people  to  vote  on  the  question  of  amending 
the  Constitution,  as  hereinbefore  expressed,  and  they  voted 
for  Mrs.  Brown,  as  a matter  of  principle,  utterly  regard- 
less as  to  what  might  be  the  result  of  the  election.  The 
third  and  last  cause  was,  that  very  many  Republicans 
who  were  identified  with  the  school  interests,  assumed 
that  Mr.  Strattan  had  not  been  sufficiently  associated  with 
the  school  work,  and  a large  per  cent,  of  them  voted  for 
Mr.  Raab,  who  was  known  to  have  made  education  his 
study  and  practice;  and  when  Mr.  Raab  was  inducted 
into  office  he  recognized  the  fact  that  it  had  not  been  a 
party  victory  by  appointing  W.  L.  Pillsbury,  a Republi- 
can, his  assistant.  Mr.  Pillsbury  had  held  the  position 
under  Superintendent  Slade,  and  whatever  may  have  been 
the  party  prejudice  to  his  selection,  we  doubt  if  Mr.  Raab 
could  have  made  a more  fitting  appointment. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  Congressmen,  by  districts,  is  as 
follows : 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 


Ransom  W.  Dunham,  R 11,571 

John  W.  Doane,  D 10,534 

Alonzo  J.  Glover 644 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  808 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Finerty,  I.  D. 9,360 

Henry  F.  Sheridan.  D 6,939 

J.  Altpeter 189 

Sylvester  Artley 180 

Third  District. 

George  E.  Davis,  E 12,511 

William  P.  Black.  D 10,274 

Caleb  G.  Hayman 748 

Q.  A.  Sprague 3 

Fourth  District. 

George  E.  Adams,  E 11,686 

Lambert  Tree  . D 9,446 

Frank  P.  Crandon 663 

Christian  Meyer 128 

Fifth  District. 

Eeuben  Ellwood,  E 12,994 

William  Price.  D 5,127 

B.  N.  Dean 268 

Sixth  District. 

Eobert  E.  Hitt,  E 12,725 

James  S.  Ticknor.  D 9,045 

George  W.  Curtis 354 

B.  F.  Sheets 6 

Seventh  District. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  E 12,7 51 

Larmon  G.  Johnson  . D 6,369 

M.  B.  Lloyd 1,673 

L.  G.  Morrison 57 

Eighth  District. 

William  Cullen,  E. 13,851 

Patrick  C.  Haley.  D 13,673 

Lewis  Steward 917 

Otis  Hardy 1,017 

T.  W.  Baird 41 


;304  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 

Ninth  District. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  Pi 12,619 

E.  B.  Buck  . D 9,243 

0.  W.  Barnard 2,138 

Joseph  M.  McCullough  87 

Tenth  District. 

Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  D 13,571 

John  H.  Lewis,  B 13,180 

Matthew  H.  Mitchell 1,335 

Eleventh  District. 

William  H.  Neece,  D 14,604 

Benjamin  F.  Marsh,  B 13,975 

Bichard  Haney  . . . . 3,671 

Twelfth  District. 

James  M.  Biggs,  D 15,316 

James  W.  Singleton,  Ind.  D 11,782 

Philip  N.  Minier,  P 4,130 

Thirteenth  District. 

William  M.  Springer,  D 18,360 

Deitrieh  C.  Smith,  B . . 14,042 

H.  M.  Miller. 1,340 

Fourteenth  District. 

Jonathan  H.  Bowell,  B 15,273 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  D 14,598 

David  H.  Harts,  Ind.  B 1,414 

Fifteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  B 15,868 

Andrew  J.  Hunter,  D 14,651 

John  C.  Barnes 536 

Sixteenth  District. 

Aaron  Shaw,  D . . .. 14,557 

E.  B.  Green,  B 13,689 

Daniel  B.  Tourney  . . ... ... 741 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


805 


Seventeenth  District. 


Samuel  W.  Moulton,  D 14,495 

William  H.  Barlow,  R 10,068 

B.  W.  F.  Corley 1,386 

Eighteenth  District. 

William  R.  Morrison,  D 14,906 

W.  C.  Kueffner,  R 12,561 

Thomas  W.  Hynes,  P 1,069 

Nineteenth  District. 

Richard  W.  Townshend,  D 15,606 

George  C.  Ross,  R 9,930 

Twentieth  District. 

John  R.  Thomas,  R 14,504 

William  K.  Murphy,  D 14,113 

J.  F.  McCartney,  Ind 1,016 

G.  W.  Curtis  22 


CHAPTER  XLIY, 

GENERAL  LOGAN  CHALLENGED. 


General  Logan  Challenged— Correspondence— Letter  of  General  Logan— An 
Exciting  Incident— Cilley  and  Graves  Duel— Last  Time  Gen.  Grant  Ap- 
peared in  Public— Conspiracy  to  Defraud  the  Government  of  the  Tax  on 
Spirits— Letter  from  Gen.  Grant  on  the  Subject— Public  Charities— Negro 
Slave  Marriages— Santa  Anna’s  Cork  Leg. 


When  General  Logan  was  returned  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1879,  there  was  an  effort  made  by  those  opposed 
to  the  pronounced  views  he  held  regarding  the  questions 
then  dividing  the  people  of  the  North  and  South,  to  weaken 
his  influence  in  that  body,  by  a reiteration  of  the  slander 
that  he  had  not  been  loyal  to  the  flag  of  his  country  at  the 
inception  of  the  rebellion,  and  William  M.  Lowe,  a member 
of  the  House  from  Alabama,  was  chosen  as  the  person  to 
—20 


806 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


make  the  charge,  which  was  done  through  the  medium  of 
an  interview  with  a correspondent  of  the  Boston  Globe , which 
was  published  almost  simultaneously  in  the  Pittsburg  Post, 
to  which  General  Logan  made  a prompt  reply  in  a brief  card 
published  in  the  Washington  Republican , in  which  he  brand- 
ed the  statements  attributed  to  Mr.  Lowe  as  being  false  and 
slanderous  in  every  particular,  leaving  the  question  of  their 
responsibility  to  be  settled  between  Mr.  Lowe  and  the  cor- 
respondent. The  fearless  denial  of  General  Logan  stirred 
the  hot  blood  of  the  southerner,  and  he  set  about  to  compel 
General  Logan  to  make  an  apology  or  fight  a duel.  General 
Logan,  in  the  mean  time,  treated  all  his  communications 
with  silent  contempt,  but  at  the  same  time  held  himself 
ready  to  meet  any  personal  assault  with  deadly  intent  Mr. 
Lowe  might  venture  to  make.  But  failing  to  provoke 
General  Logan  to  accept  a challenge,  on  the  26th  of  April, 
1879,  Mr.  Lowe  published  the  following  correspondence, 
which  was  given  to  the  press  of  the  country : 

“Washington,  D.  C.,  April  26,  1879. 

“In  the  Republican  of  the  21st  inst.  Hon.  John  A.  Logan 
has  a communication  in  regard  to  an  interview  between  Mr. 
Luther,  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Globe  and  myself, 
which  interview  has  been  published  in  the  Pittsburg  Post. 
In  that  communication  Senator  Logan  uses,  in  reference  to 
myself,  the  following  extraordinary  language : 

“ T understand  that  Col.  Lowe  claims  that  this  is  not  a 
correct  report  of  what  he  said  to  the  reporter ; if  not,  he 
should  correct  the  statement  and  make  the  reporter  respon- 
sible for  putting  a lie  into  his  mouth.  The  statement  I 
brand  as  false  and  slanderous,  and  Col.  Lowe  and  the 
reporter  can  settle  the  question  between  themselves  as  to 
which  one  has  been  guilty  of  perpetrating  this  villainous 
falsehood.’ 

“Upon  reading  this  language,  I sent  Senator  Logan  the 
following  note : 

“ ‘Washington,  D.  C.,  April  21,  1879. 

“ (To  Hon.  John  A.  Logan , Washington : 

“ ‘Sir:  In  the  Republican  of  this  morning,  I find  a com- 
munication signed  by  you,  commenting  upon  an  alleged 
interview  between  the  correspondent  of  the  Pittsburg  PosU 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


307 


and  myself  in  regard  to  your  rumored  participation  in  rais- 
ing troops  for  the  confederate  army  in  1861.  You  had  been 
informed  that  the  interview  in  the  Post  was  incorrect.  In 
that  interview  I said,  substantially,  that  there  were  two  or 
three  companies  from  Illinois  in  the  confederate  service ; 
that  I had  talked  with  one  of  the  officers  and  some  of  the 
men,  and  they  said  they  were  enlisted  to  constitute  a part 
of  General  Logan’s  command  in  the  confederate  army,  and 
such  reports  were  current  in  my  section ; that  I had  never 
heard  any  denial  of  them,  and  that  if  they  were  true,  Gen. 
Logan,  if  asked  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  could  not  deny, 
but  might,  perhaps,  evade  a direct  answer.  This  being  the 
substance  of  my  statement  in  said  interview,  I desire  to  know 
whether,  in  your  communication  to  the  Republican  this 
morning,  you  apply  the  words  ‘false  and  slanderous’  to  me.. 

“ ‘Respectfully, 

“ ‘Wm.  M.  Lowe. 

“ ‘This  will  be  handed  you  by  my  friend,  Chas.  Pelham, 
Esq.  “ ‘W.  M.  L.’ 

“This  note  was  delivered  by  Judge  Pelham  to  Senator 
Logan,  at  his  city  residence,  on  the  morning  of  the22d  inst. 
Receiving  no  reply,  1 sent,  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  inst.,. 
the  following  note : 

“ ‘Washington,  D.  C.,  April  24,  1879. 

“ ‘ Hon  John  A.  Logan: 

“ ‘Sir  : On  the  21st  inst.  I addressed  a letter  to  you, 
calling  your  attention  to  your  communication  in  the  Repub- 
lican of  that  date.  In  that  letter  I gave  the  substance  of  an 
interview  with  myself,  which  had  been  in  some  particular 
incorrectly  reported  in  the  Pittsburg  Post,  and  desired  to 
know  if  in  your  publication  of  the  21st  inst.,  you  applied 
the  words  ‘false  and  slanderous’  to  me.  Having  received 
no  reply  to  that  letter,  I am  forced  again  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  these  offensive  words,  and  to  demand  to  know 
whether  you  apply  them  to  me.  My  friend,  Chas.  Pelham, 
Esq.,  is  authorized  to  receive  your  reply. 

“ ‘Respectfully, 

“ ‘Wm.  M.  Lowe.’ 

“This  note  was  delivered  to  Senator  Logan  in  the  vesti- 
bule of  the  Senate  Chamber  on  the  afternoon  of  its  date. 


308 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Receiving  no  reply,  I sent  Senator  Logan  the  following  note, 
which  was  delivered  to  him  at  3 o’clock,  p.  m.,  on  the  day 
of  its  date : 

“ 'Washington,  D.  C.,  April  25,  1879. 

6 Hon.  John  A.  Logan: 

“ 'Sir  : On  the  21st,  you  published  in  the  Republican  of 
this  city,  a communication  containing  words  personally 
reflecting  upon  me.  I have  twice  addressed  you  a note, 
calling  your  attention  to  this  language.  You  have  failed 
and  refused  to  answer  either  of  them,  and  you  thereby  force 
me  to  the  last  alternative.  I therefore  demand  that  you 
name  some  time  and  place  out  of  this  District,  where 
another  communication  will  presently  reach  you.  My 
friend,  Chas.  Pelham,  Esq.,  is  authorized  to  act  for  me  in 
the  premises. 

“ 'Respectfully, 

“ 'Wm.  M.  Lowe.’ 

“This  ended  this  one-sided  correspondence,  which  explains 
itself.  It  needs  little  or  no  comment  from  me.  I will  not 
brand  John  A.  Logan  as  a liar,  for  he  is  a Senator  of  the 
United  States.  I will  not  post  him  as  a scoundrel  and  pol- 
troon, for  that  would  be  in  violation  of  local  statutes ; but 
I do  publish  him  as  one  who  knows  how  to  insult,  but  not 
how  to  satisfy  a gentleman,  and  I invoke  upon  him  the 
judgment  of  honorable. men  of  the  community. 

“Respectfully, 

“Wm.  M.  Lowe." 

This  ended  the  matter.  It  was  not  necessary  for  General 
Logan  to  either  do  or  say  anything  to  establish  a character 
for  moral  courage ; all  were  willing  to  accord  him  that,  and 
many  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  required  more  courage  to 
resist  the  temptation  to  fight  a duel  than  it  did  to  toe  the 
mark  on  the  “field  of  honor."  This,  we  believe,  is  the  first 
instance  in  the  history  of  the  public  men  of  Washington, 
where  the  challenged  party  had  the  moral  courage  to  con- 
demn, by  his  action,  the  barbarous  practice  of  desiring  to 
take  the  life  of  another,  for  words  spoken  in  debate  or 
otherwise,  and  the  example  of  General  Logan  marks  a point 
in  our  civilization  that  will  live  as  long  as  the  government 
itself.  *, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


309 


In  a previous  chapter  we  have  given  an  unbiased  state- 
ment regarding  the  position  occupied  by  Gen.  Logan  from 
the  first  inception  of  the  rebellion  to  the  close  of  the  war, 
which  was  submitted  to  him  for  his  criticism ; and  the  ac- 
companying letter  bears  us  out  in  all  that  is  therein  said : 

“Chicago,  III.,  April  14,  1883. 

“David  W.  Lusk,  Esq.  : 

“My  Dear  Sir — Your  favor  of  the  31st  July  I find  await- 
ing answer  upon  my  return  from  the  West.  I hope  you  will 
pardon  delay  in  answering.  I have  read  your  statement 
in  referance  to  myself,  which  you  propose  to  make  a part  of 
your  coming  book,  and  can  say  that  it  is  a fair  statement  of 
the  facts.  I have  no  suggestions  to  offer,  and  it  is  all  I 
could  ask  you  to  say ; it  covers  all  the  ground,  and  is  truth- 
ful. 

“Thanking  you  for  the  interest  manifested,  and  trusting 
that  you  may  meet  with  success  in  your  enterprise,  I am 
“Very  truly  your  friend, 

“John  A.  Logan.” 

Death  of  General  Logan. 

John  Alexander  Logan  died  at  his  home  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  December  26,  1886.  He  was  born  in  Jackson 
county,  Illinois,  February  9,  1826.  He  volunteered 
in  the  service  of  his  country  in  the  war  with  Mexico 
in  the  First  Illinois  regiment,  returning  with  rank  of 
Lieutenant;  studied  law  and  graduated  at  the  Louis- 
ville University,  in  1851 ; in  1852  and  1856,  he  Avas  a 
Representative  in  the  Legislature;  in  1855  he  and  Miss 
Mary  Cunningham  were  married.  They  had  born  unto 
them  two  children — John  and  Mary;  in  1856  he  was 
an  elector  on  the  Democratic  ticket;  in  1858  he  Avas 
elected  Representative  in  the  Thirty-sixth.  Congress; 
reelected  in  1860,  but  in  1861  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
Thirty-seventh  Congress  and  entered  the  Union  army 
as  Colonel  of  the  Thirty-first  regiment  of  Illinois  In- 
fantry; he  was  promoted  to  Brigadier  General  in 
March,  1862,  and  afterward  to  Major  General,  and 
commanded  successively  a regiment,  brigade,  division^ 


310 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


um  army  corps  and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  On 
August  17,  after  an  even  four  years7  service  he  resigned 
his  commission,  and  returned  to  the  peaceful  walks  of 
life,  resuming  the  practice  of  law  in  Illinois.  In  I860 
he  was  elected  to  the  Fortieth  Congress  from  the  State 
at  large,  and  was  reelected  in  18(58;  in  1871  he  was 
elected  United  States  Senator,  and  reelected  in  1879 
and  in  1885 ; in  1884  he  was  the  Kepublican  candidate 
for  Vice-President.  Ex-Gov.  Palmer  happily  expressed 
our  views  on  the  untimely  death  of  Gen.  Logan  in  his 
remarks  before  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Kepublic,  in 
Springfield,  on  the  occasion  of  the  obsequies.  Said  he : 
“It  seems  that  Gen.  Logan  should  have  been  per- 
mitted to  live  his  three  score  years  and  ten,  that  we 
might  know  what  he  would  have  accomplished.  If 
Napoleon  had  died  at  Marengo,  there  would  have  been 
no  Elba,  no  Empire,  no  Jena  and  no  Waterloo.” 

The  foregoing  calls  to  mind  the  duel  between  Cilley  and 
Graves  in  1888,  in  which  Henry  Clay  figured  somewhat  con- 
spicuously. Cilley  was  a member  of  Congress  from  Maine, 
and  Graves  represented  a Kentucky  district.  Mr.  Cilley 
was  one  of  the  ablest  debaters  in  the  House,  and  in  a speech 
defending  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  was  then  President,  from 
the  assaults  of  his  enemys,  he  paid  his  respects  to  James 
Watson  Webb  of  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer , 
asserting  that  Webb  had  received  a money  consideration 
for  advocating  the  charter  of  the  National  Bank.  A few 
days  after,  Mr.  Webb  visited  Washington,  and  he  sent  Mr. 
Cilley  a note  through  Mr.  Graves.  Mr.  Cilley  declined  to 
receive  it.  Mr.  Graves  returned  to  Mr.  Webb  with  the  note, 
whom  he  found  in  company  with  Mr.  Clay  and  some  other 
Kentuckians.  Mr.  Cilley’s  refusal  created  a great  deal  of 
excitement  among  the  friends  of  Mr.  Webb.  Finally  Mr. 
Clay  said,  in  a passionate  manner:  “Take  the  note  back  to 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


311 


the  Yankee  and  tell  him  it  is  no  challenge,  but  a mere  note 
of  inquiry  from  Col.  Webb.”  Mr.  Graves  returned  to  Mr. 
CiUey  and  explained  the  character  of  the  note.  The  latter 
again  declined  to  receive  it,  stating  that  he  had  no  acquaint- 
ance with  Mr.  Webb  and  did  not  wish  any  correspondence 
with  him.  This  somewhat  embarrassed  Mr.  Graves.  Mr. 
Cilley  assured  him  that  he  held  him  in  the  highest  esteem, 
and  greatly  regretted  doing  anything  which  would  affect 
him  unpleasantly.  Mr.  Graves  returned  to  the  Kentucky 
headquarters  and  reported  the  result,  whereupon  Mr.  Clay 
savagely  ejaculated,  “Graves,  you  have  got  to  challenge  the 

d d Yankee and  it  is  related  that  Mr.  Clay  penned  the 

original  challenge.  Henry  A.  Wise,  afterwards  Governor 
of  Virginia,  was  the  bearer  of  the  challenge,  which  was 
accepted,  Mr.  Cilley  preferring  to  meet  death  in  that  bar- 
barous manner  rather  than  to  be  posted  as  a coward,  as  was 
the  custom  of  the  times.  Knowing  nothing  of  the  use  of 
pistols,  Mr.  Cilley  chose  rifles.  The  hostile  meeting  took 
place.  Three  shots  were  exchanged,  and  in  the  last  Cilley 
received  a wound  in  the  thigh  which  severed  the  femoral 
artery,  and  he  died  almost  instantly,  while  Graves  was 
untouched.  This  duel  is  a part  of  the  history  of  the 
country,  and  details  need  not  be  given.  A few  moments 
before  the  death  of  Cilley,  Graves  advanced  within  a few 
feet  of  him  and  asked  if  he  might  not  go  to  the  fallen  man, 
but  Wise  remonstrated  with  him,  when  Graves  entered  his 
carriage  and  left  the  scene.  This  brutal  tragedy  had  no 
little  to  do  with  the  defeat  of  Henry  Clay  for  the  Presidency 
in  the  campaign  of  1844. 

Last  Time  General  Grant  Appeared  In  Public. 

General  Grant  died  July  23d,  1885,  at  8 :08  a.  m.,  mourned 
by  the  people  of  the  civilized  world.  Governor  Oglesby,  in 
his  response  to  the  toast,  “Our  Boys,”  at  the  banquet  given 


312 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


at  Chicago,  in  September,  1885,  by  the  Army  of  the  Tennes- 
see, made  this  happy  reference  to  the  last  time  General 
Grant  appeared  before  the  public.  Said  he:  “Oh,  glorious 
Republic  ! Oh,  splendid  Nation  ! May  the  time  never  come 
when  heroes  such  as  the  last  war  produced,  may  not  be 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  boys  of  the  future.  I saw  for  the 
last  time,  on  the  shore  of  the  Atlantic,  a little  more  than  a 
year  ago,  that  modest,  silent  soldier,  who  led  these  brave 
men  to  victory ; I saw  that  plain  man,  born  upon  the  yellow 
clay  hills  of  Ohio,  the  son  of  a farmer — one  who  in  Europe 
would  be  called  a peasant  boy — I saw  him  for  the  last  time, 
after  he  had  substantially  accomplished  the  career  and  cir- 
cle of  life.  It  was  partially  by  my  persuasion  that  he  was 
induced  to  go  once  more  before  the  public  at  Ocean  Grove, 
where  there  was  a vast  assemblage  of  Christian  men  and 
women,  who  had  come  together  from  the  North  and  the 
South.  It  was  a reunion  of  the  sanitary  commission,  the 
Christian  commission,  and  the  chaplains  of  both  armies. 
They  had  telegraphed  him  the  day  before  to  meet  them.  He 
declined.  They  telegraphed  him  again,  and  he  read  the  tele- 
gram to  me.  I said,  'General,  by  all  means,  go.  These  people 
want  to  see  you.’  He  studied  a moment,  and  said,  ‘Yes,  I will 
go.’  He  went,  and  I went  with  him.  He  was  very  much  de- 
pressed, but  he  went  with  that  same  self-possession  and  un- 
fathomable face  that  neither  fate  nor  genius  could  have  read. 
He  came  limping  upon  the  platform,  broken  in  limb  and 
broken  in  fortune,  but,  thank  God,  not  broken  in  spirit.  The 
same  buoyant,  brave,  patriotic  heart  was  still  throbbing  in 
that  breast.  He  arose  to  reply,  but  overwhelmed  by  the  benev- 
olent and  charitable  demonstration,  he  had  not  proceeded 
six  sentences,  before  a silvery  tear  trickled  down  his  war- 
bronzed  face,  and  he  retired  with  cane  and  crutch  to  an 
obscure  seat.  This  was  the  last  time  he  was  before  the 
public.  Boys,  aye,  boys  of  the  future ! Young  men  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


313 


America ! Youth  of  our  own  beloved  land ! Look  upon 
that  character  and  glorious  impersonation  of  human,  manly 
liberty,  and  it  will  stir  your  heroism  to  the  point  of  protect- 
ing your  flag.” 

A little  digression  will  be  pardoned.  In  1883,  we  enclosed 
Gen.  Grant  a portion  of  a previous  chapter,  which  referred 
to  certain  charges  made  against  him  in  a book  published  by 
John  McDonald,  of  St.  Louis,  and  he  returned  the  matter 
with  this  letter : 

“New  York  City,  October  10,  1883. 

“ Dear  Sir — I have  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst.,  with  inclos- 
ure. I have  no  suggestions  to  make,  or  changes  to  ask,  in 
regard  to  what  you  say  in  the  article,  which  is  herewith  re- 
turned. I am  much  obliged  to  you  for  what  you  say,  though 
I have  never  felt  the  slightest  concern  for  myself  through  all 
the  abuse  that  has  been  heaped  upon  me.  I was,  of  course, 
much  annoyed  that  such  things  could  happen,  as  did,  while 
I was  the  executive  of  the  Nation.  I was  probably  too  un- 
suspecting. 

“Very  truly  yours, 

“U.  S.  Grant. 

“D.  W.  Lusk,  Esq.: 

“P.  S. — Please  put  me  down  for  a copy  of  your  book. 

“U.  S.  G.” 

In  this  letter  is  the  whole  explanation  of  this  great  con- 
spiracy, so  far  as  it  related  to  Gen.  Grant.  “I  was  probably 
too  unsuspecting.”  These  words  tell  the  whole  story.  In 
the  meantime,  the  banking  house  of  Ward  & Grant  had 
failed,  and  in  June,  1884,  when  this  book  first  appeared,  we 
sent  him  a copy  of  it,  complimentary,  and  not  knowing 
whether  it  had  reached  him,  we  wrote  him  in  October,  1884, 
and  received  this  reply : 

“November  19th,  1884. 

“D,  W.  Lusk,  Esq.  : 

“Dear  Sir — I received  your  book  on  the  Politics  and  Poli- 
ticians of  Illinois  some  time  last  summer.  I have  not  read 
it  sufficiently  to  say  anything  about  it.  I have  been  en- 
gaged myself  upon  work  which  requires  much  research, 
reading  of  reports  of  the  war,  etc.,  which  has  left  me  but 


314 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


little  time  for  other  reading.  I left  your  book  at  my  cottage 
at  Long  Branch,  so  that  I probably  will  not  read  it  before 
next  summer. 

“If  I did  not  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  work  at  the 
time,  and  thank  you  for  it,  I wish  to  do  so  now,  and  to 
apologize  for  the  neglect. 

“Very  truly  yours, 

“U.  S.  Grant.” 

How  simple,  and  yet  how  manly.  “If  I did  not  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt  of  your  work  at  the  time,  and  thank  you 
for  it,  I wish  to  do  so  now,  and  to  apologize  for  the  neglect.” 
But  this  was  Grant — there  was  no  manlier  man. 


Death  of  Gen.  Lippincott. 

The  death  of  Gen.  Chas.  E.  Lippincott,  which  occurred 
at  Quincy,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1887,  removed 
from  the  stage  of  action  another  of  the  distinguished 
sons  of  Illinois,  vdio  was  a conspicuous  figure  in  the 
war  for  the  Union.  He  Avas  a nut i ve  of  Illinois,  born 
in  EdAA'ardsville,  January  26,  1825;  he  was  the  son 
of  Rev.  Thomas  Lippincott,  who  came  to  Illinois  in 
1818,  and  was  a co-laborer  with  Gov.  Coles  in  his 
struggle  to  defeat  the  efforts  of  those  ivho  sought  to 
make  Illinois  a slave  State.  Gen.  Lippincott  Avas 
naturally  an  anti-slavery  man,  and  Avhen  the  wrar  of 
the  rebellion  ensued  he  did  not  hesitate  as  to  the  flag 
he  Avould  folloAV ; and  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  vol- 
unteered in  the  service  of  his  country,  entering  the 
army  as  Captain  of  Company  K,  Thirty-third  Illinois 
Infantry,  and  for  gallant  conduct  AA7as  promoted,  step 
by  step,  to  that  of  Brigadier-General.  In  1868  he  ay  as 
elected  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  and  reelected  in 
1872.  He  was  an  able  and  faithful  public  servant. 
His  children,  three  sons,  lie  buried  at  Oak  Ridge  cem- 
etery, AA'here  his  remains  noAV  repose,  his  AA’ife  being  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


315 


only  survivor  of  his  once  bright  and  happy  home. 
Gen.  Lippincott  was  a physician  by  profession.  In 
the  spring  of  1853,  owing  to  failing  health,  he  migrated 
to  California,  but  had  not  been  there  long  before  he 
became  interested  in  politics,  taking  sides  with  the 
people  who  desired  to  make  California  a free  State. 
He  was  a member  of  the  Senate  which  elected  David 
C.  Broderick  United  States  Senator  from  that  State, 
in  1856;  he  became  involved  in  a quarrel  on  political 
matters  with  Bobert  Tevis,  who  had  migrated  from 
Kentucky.  Tevis  had  posted  Lippincott  as  a liar  and 
a scoundrel,  which  so  stirred  his  hot  blood  as  to  cause 
him  to  challenge  Tevis.  They  met  in  deadly  conflict, 
and  exchanged  shots,  when  Tevis  was  mortally  wounded, 
while  Lippincott  escaped  unharmed.  It  will  not  be  out 
of  place  here  to  state  that  his  friend,  David  C.  Brod- 
erick, fell  mortally  wounded  in  a duel  with  David  S. 
Terry,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State, 
on  the  13th  of  September,  1859 ; he  was  the  first  and 
only  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  ever  killed 
in  a duel. 


Negro  Slave  Marriages. 

Illinois  seems  to  have  been  foremost  in  almost  everything 
in  the  line  of  progress.  Twenty  years  ago,  when  J.  B.  Brad- 
well  was  sitting  as  Probate  Judge  of  Cook  County,  he  ren- 
dered a decision  in  which  he  held  that  marriage  of  negro 
slaves  was  valid,  and  the  opinion  was  widely  published  in  this 
country  and  England,  and  endorsed  by  the  most  eminent 
jurists  as  being  good  law ; and  in  a recent  case  in  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  this  decision  was  cited  as  an  authority.  It  was 
rendered  in  the  matter  of  the  estate  of  Henry  Jones,  de- 
ceased, of  Chicago,  who  was  formerly  a slave  in  Tennessee, 
and  whose  son,  M.  C.  Jones,  instituted  suit  for  the  recovery 
of  the  estate  belonging  to  him,  as  the  heir  of  his  father. 


316 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Santa  Anna’s  Cork  Leg, 

In  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  in  1847, 
it  fell  to  the  honor  of  some  of  the  soldiers  from  Illinois  to 
capture  the  cork  leg  of  Gen.  Santa  Anna,  which  he  lost 
while  being  hotly  pressed  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo.  The 
names  of  Samuel  Rhodes,  John  M.  Gill,  and  A.  Waldron, 
are  associated  with  its  capture,  and  but  recently  Mr.  Gill,, 
in  whose  possession  it  has  been  for  a long  time,  presented  it 
to  the  State  to  be  placed  on  exhibition  in  Memorial  Hall, 
where  it  may  now  be  seen,  the  mere  sight  of  which  will 
vividly  call  to  mind  such  illustrious  names  as  Bissell,  Hardin 
and  Baker,  who  gallantly  led  the  soldiers  of  Illinois  in  that 
sanguinary  conflict. 


CHAPTER  XLV, 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1883, 


Governor — John  M.  Hamilton. 

President  pro  tem.  and  acting  Lieut. -Gov. — W.  J.  Campbell. 
Secretary  of  State — H.  D . Dement. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Chas.  P.  Swigert. 
Treasurer — John  C.  Smith. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Henry  Raab. 
Attorney  General — James  McCartney. 

Thirty-third  General  Assembly. 

The  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  convened  January  3, 
and  consisted  of  the  following  members: 

Senate. 

George  E.  White,  Chicago.  W.  H.  Ruger,  Chicago. 

L.  D.  Condee,  Chicago.  George  E.  Adams,  Chicago. 
John  H.  Clough,  Chicago.  W.  J.  Campbell,  Chicago. 

C.  Mamer,  Chicago.  George  Kirk,  Waukegan. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


317 


W.  E.  Mason,  Chicago. 
Isaac  Rice,  Mount  Morris. 
Thos.  Cloonan,  Chicago. 

D.  H.  Sunderland,  Freeport. 
Millard  B.  Hereley,  Chicago. 
Henry  H.  Evans,  Aurora. 

E.  B.  Shumway,  Peotone. 
Conrad  Secrest,  Watseka. 
Lyman  B.  Ray,  Morris. 
Geo.  Torrance,  Pontiac. 
Wm.  C.  Snyder,  Fulton. 
Thomas  M.  Shaw,  Lacon. 
H.  A.  Ainsworth,  Moline. 

A.  W.  Berggren,  Galesburg. 
J.  W.  Duncan,  Ottawa. 

John  Fletcher,  Carthage. 

L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
Andrew  J.  Bell,  Peoria. 
Henry  Tubbs,  Kirkwood. 

J.  W.  Fifer  Bloomington. 
Jason  Rogers,  Decatur. 

J.  S.  Wright,  Champaign. 


George  Hunt,  Paris. 

H.  S.  Clark,  Mattoon. 

E.  R.  Rinehart,  Effingham. 

E.  Laning,  Petersburg. 

M.  Kelly,  Liberty. 

Wm.  R.  Archer,  Pittsfield. 

F.  M.  Bridges,  Carrollton. 

C.  A.  Walker,  Carlinville. 

L.  F.  Hamilton,  Springfield. 
W.  T.  Yandeveer,  Taylorville 

D.  B.  Gillham,  Upper  Alton. 
Thos.  B.  Needles,  Nashville. 
Thomas  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 
J.  R.  Tanner,  Louisville. 

W.  H.  McNary,  Martinsville. 
J.  C.  Edwards,  McLeansboro 
Henry  Seiter,  Lebanon. 
Louis  Ihorn,  Harrisonville. 
Wm.  S.  Morris,  Golconda. 
W.  A.  Lemma,  Carbondale. 
Daniel  Hogan,  Mound  City. 


House  of  Representatives. 


J.  Fairbanks,  Chicago. 

R.  B.  Kennedy,  Chicago. 

D.  Sullivan,  Chicago. 

W.  H.  Harper,  Chicago. 
Hilon  A.  Parker,  Chicago. 

E.  J.  Fellows,  Chicago. 

J.  W.  E.  Thomas,  Chicago. 
Thomas  McNally,  Chicago. 
Isaac  Abrahams,  Chicago. 
John  L.  Parrish,  Chicago. 

J.  F.  Lawrence,  Chicago. 

R.  F.  Sheridan,  Chicago. 
David  W.  Walsh,  Chicago. 
James  A.  Taylor,  Chicago. 
Erwin  E.  Wood,  Chicago. 
Edward  D.  Cooke,  Chicago. 
Theo.  Stimming,  Chicago. 
Austin  0.  Sexton,  Chicago. 
L.  C.  Collins,  Jr.,  Chicago. 
Geo.  G.  Struckman,  Elgin. 


Clayton  E.  Crafts,  Chicago. 
Chas.  E.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 
Chas.  H.  Tyron,  Richmond. 
E.  M.  Haines,  Waukegan. 
Julius  Pedersen,  Chicago. 

A.  Wendell,  Chicago. 

Mark  J.  Clinton,  Chicago. 

A.  F.  Brown,  Stillman  Yall’y. 
Ed.  B.  Sumner,  Rockford. 
John  C.  Seyster,  Oregon. 
Jesse  J.  Rook,  Chicago. 

J.  O’Shea,  Chicago. 

August  Mette,  Chicago. 

G.  L.  Hoffman,  Mt.  Carroll. 
J.  A.  Hammond,  Hanover. 
E.  L.  Cronkrite,  Freeport. 
Peter  Hundelius,  Chicago. 
Gregory  A.  Klupp,  Chicago. 
John  F.  Dugan,  Chicago. 
Luther  L.  Hiatt,  Wheaton. 


318 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Henry  P.  Walker,  Hinsdale. 
James  Herrington,  Geneva. 
George  Bez,  Wilmington. 
John  O’Connell,  Joliet. 
James  L.  Owen,  Frankfort. 
John  H.  Jones,  Milford. 
William  8.  Hawker,  Salina. 
Daniel  C.  Taylor,  Kankakee. 
Henry  Wood,  Sycamore. 

H.  M.  Boardman,  Shabbona. 
Andrew  Welch,  Yorkville. 

J.  H.  Collier,  Gibson  City. 

A.  G.  Goodspeed,  Odell. 
Michael  Cleary,  Odell. 
Solomon  H.  Bethea,  Dixon. 
John  G.  Manahan,  Sterling. 
John  B.  Felker,  Amboy. 
Bevilo  Newton,  Minonk. 
John  H.  Crandall,  Morton. 

B.  S.  Hester,  Belle  Plain. 
Thos.  Nowers,  Jr.,  Atkinson. 
H.  C.  Cleaveland,  B.  Island. 
Patrick  O’Mara,  B.  Island. 
Wm.  H.  Emerson,  Astoria. 
A.  S.  Curtis,  Oneida. 

F.  A.  Willoughby,  Galesburg. 
Wright  Adams,  Sheridan. 
Alex.  Vaughey,  Seneca. 
Samuel  C.  Wiley,  Earlville. 
David  Bankin,  Biggsville. 

J.  M.  Ansley,  Swedonia. 
John  D.  Stevens,  Carthage. 
Jas.  T.  Thornton,  Magnolia. 
John  Lackie,  Osceola. 

John  H.  Welsh,  Tiskilwa. 
Sam’l  H.  Thompson,  Peoria. 
Jos.  Gallup,  Lawn  Bidge. 
Michael  C.  Quinn,  Peoria. 
Isaac  N.  Pearson,  Macomb. 

C.  M.  Bogers,  Monmouth. 
Isaac  L.  Pratt,  Boseville. 

T.  F.  Mitchell,  Bloomington. 
Lafayette  Funk,  Shirley. 
Simeon  H.  West,  Leroy. 
John  H.  Crocker,  Maroa. 
John  T.  Foster,  Elkhart. 


B.  H.  Templeman,  Mt.  PTski. 
Wm.  F.  Calhoun,  Clinton. 
James  A.  Hawks,  Atwood. 
Wm.  A.  Day,  Champaign. 
Wm.  J.  Calhoun,  Danville. 
Bobert  B.  Bay,  Fairmount. 

E.  B.  E.  Kimbrough,  D’nvi’le 
Joseph  G.  Ewing,  Areola. 
WTn.  H.  DeBord,  Greenup. 

F.  M.  Bichardson,  Neoga. 
Charles  L.  Boane,  Sullivan. 
Thos.  N.  Henry,  Windsor. 
John  H.  Baker,  Sullivan. 

T.  L.  Mathews,  Virginia. 
Wm.  M.  Duffy,  San  Jose. 

H.  C.  Thompson,  Virginia. 
Thos.  G.  Black,  Clayton. 
James  E.  Purnell,  Quincy. 

J.  E.  Downing,  Camp  Point. 
T.  Worthington,  Jr.,  Pittsfi’ld. 
J.  W.  Moore,  Mound  Station. 

F.  M.  Greathouse,  Hardin. 
J.  H.  Coats,  Winchester. 

W.  E.  Carlin,  Jersey ville. 

G.  W.  Murray,  Winchester. 

I.  L.  Morrison,  Jacksonville. 

A.  N.  Yancey,  Bunker  Hill. 
E.  M.  Kinman,  Jacksonville. 

D.  T.  Littler,  Springfield. 

B.  F.  Caldwell,  Chatham. 

G.  W.  Murray,  Springfield. 

E.  E.  Cowperthwait. 

Geo.  M.  Stevens,  Nokomis. 
John  B.  Bicks,  Taylorville. 
John  M.  Pearson,  Godfrey. 
Henry  . 0.  Billings,  Alton. 
Bobert  D.  Utiger,  Alhambra. 
John  L.  Nichols,  Clement. 

F.  E.  W.  Brink,  Hoyleton. 
Jas.  M.  Bountree,  Nashville. 
Seth  F.  Crews,  Mt.  Vernon. 

G.  H.  Varnell,  Mt.  Vernon. 

J.  D.  Jennings,  Beecher,  City. 
Henry  Studer,  Olney. 

John  S.  Symonds,  Flora. 
Elbert  Bowland,  Olney. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


319 


J.  M.  Honey,  Newton. 
Grandison  Clark,  Newton. 
Wm.  Updyke,  Eobinson. 
Wm.  H.  Johnson,  Carmi. 
Lowry  Hay,  Carmi. 

F.  W.  Cox,  Bridgeport. 

J.  B.  Messick,  E.  St.  Louis. 
Louis  C.  Starkel,  Belleville. 
M.  A.  Sullivan,  E.  St.  Louis. 
J.  E.  McFie,  Coulterville. 
Jas.  F.  Canniff,  Waterloo. 

W.  J,  Campbell,  of  Cook, 


John  Higgins,  DuQuoin. 

E.  W.  McCartney,  Metropolis. 
Wm.  H.  Boyer,  Harrisburg. 
Jas.  M.  Gregg,  Harrisburg. 

J.  M.  Scurlock,  Carbondale. 
Sidney  Grear,  Jonesboro. 
David  T.  Linegar,  Cairo. 
Wm.  W.  Hoskinson,  Benton. 
Milo  Erwin,  Marion. 

A.  N.  Lodge,*  Marion. 

Wm.  A.  Spann, t Johnson  Co. 
was  elected  President  pro  tem- 


pore of  the  Senate,  over  Thomas  M.  Shaw,  of  Marshall, 
by  a vote  of  23  to  15,  and  L.  F.  Watson,  Secretary. 

In  the  House,  Lorin  C.  Collins,  Jr.,  of  Cook,  was  elected 
Speaker,  over  Austin  0.  Sexton,  of  Cook,  by  a vote  of  78 


to  75,  and  John  A.  Eeeve,  of  Alexander,  Clerk,  over  Wm. 


A.  Connelly,  by  a vote  of  77  to  75. 

Gov.  Cullom  laid  his  message  before  the  two  houses  on 
the  5th.  It  was  an  able  and  carefully  prepared  State 
paper,  setting  forth,  in  detail,  all  the  needs  and  wants  of 
the  State.  He  recommended  that  section  16,  of  article  5 
of  the  constitution  be  so  amended  as  to  give  the  Governor 


power  to  veto  objectionable  portions  of  appropriation  bills, 
and  earnestly  recommended  the  revising  of  the  criminal 
code. 

One  of  the  important  duties  of  this  General  Assembly 
was  the  election  of  a United  States  Senator  to  succeed 


David  Davis.  On  the  16th  of  January,  the  two  houses 
voted  separately  on  the  question.  In  the  Senate  Shelby 
M.  Cullom,  the  nominee  of  the  Eepublican  party,  received 
30  votes,  and  John  M.  Palmer,  the  nominee  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  20  votes.  In  the  House  Mr.  Cullom  received 
75  votes,  and  Mr.  Palmer  75.  Three  members  of  the 
House  refrained  from  voting,  hence  there  was  no  election, 
and  on  the  17th  the  two  houses  met  in  joint  session  and 
voted  for  United  States  Senator.  Cullom  received  107  votes, 


♦ Seat  contested  by  Spann. 


t Admitted  to  Lodge’s  seat. 


320 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  Palmer  95.  Mr.  Cullom  having  received  a majority 
of  all  the  votes  cast,  was  declared,  by  the  Speaker,  the 
duly  elected  Senator. 

On  the  6th  of  February  Shelby  M.  Cullom  resigned  the 
office  of  Governor,  when  Lieut. -Gov.  Hamilton  became 
Governor,  and  Wm.  J.  Campbell,  President  pro  tempore 
of  the  Senate,  acting  Lieutenant-Governor. 

Gov.  Cullom  retired  from  the  office  with  a pleasing 
record.  He  had  held  the  exalted  trust  for  over  six  years, 
and  while  his  duties,  for  the  most  part,  were  routine,  yet 
there  were  times  when  his  ability  and  courage  were  put 
to  the  severest  test,  and  he  was  always  equal  to  the 
emergency.  During  the  great  riot  of  the  railroad  employes 
in  1877 — which  was  widespread  in  the  East  and  the  West — 
when  the  mob  threatened  to  burn  and  pillage  our  great 
cities,  the  sagacity  and  promptness  with  which  Gov.  Cullom 
brought  the  military  power  of  the  State  government  into 
requisition,  saved  the  State  millions  of  dollars  in  property, 
preserved  order,  and  prevented  the  shedding  of  innocent 
blood;  and  whenever  and  wherever  mob-law  raised  its 
hydra-head,  he  was  quick  to  put  it  down.  The  Southern 
Illinois  Penitentiary,  at  Chester,  was  built  during  his 
administration,  and  it  is  regarded  as  the  most  modern 
and  complete  prison  in  all  the  States,  for  it  so  happens 
that  it  is  the  last  one  erected  in  the  United  States,  and 
advantage  was  taken  of  all  the  modem  improvements  or 
appliances.  The  Insane  Asylum  at  Kankakee  was  built 
during  his  administration,  and  it  is  also  a modern  and 
most  desirable  structure.  The  reorganization  of  the  militia 
was  a work  of  no  little  magnitude,  and  we  doubt  if  there 
is  a State  in  the  Union  which  has  so  simple  and  yet  so 
effective  military  system.  In  retiring,  to  assume  other 
duties,  he  left  the  State  entirely  out  of  debt  and  in  a most 
prosperous  condition.  During  his  administration  there 
was  paid  $1,455,000  of  the  old  State  debt. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


321 


None  of  Gov.  Cullom’s  messages  were  partisan  in  char- 
acter, but  this  extract  from  his  second  inaugural,  delivered 
in  January,  1881,  is  worthy  of  preservation  in  these  pages, 
as  it  embodies  some  wholesome  truths  well  and  eloquently 
expressed : 

“ There  are  portions  of  Europe  and  Asia — say  Southern 
Russia  and  parts  of  Asiatic  Turkey — as  blessed  in  soil  and 
climate  as  Illinois,  but  the  people  are  sunk  in  degradation 
and  poverty,  because  their  rulers,  while  imposing  the 
severest  burdens  of  taxation,  give  nothing  in  return — no 
roads — no  schools — not  even  adequate  protection  to  life 
and  property. 

“ The  people  of  those  countries  would  say  of  us,  that  we 
pay  no  taxes  at  all,  inasmuch  as  what  we  do  pay  is  spent 
among  ourselves,  for  our  own  good  and  by  our  own 
servants.  If  the  same  percentage  of  our  able-bodied  men 
were  kept  in  idleness  as  a standing  army,  and  propor- 
tionate amounts  were  spent  upon  fortifications  and  naval 
armaments,  as  by  the  States  of  Europe,  we  should  see  a 
very  different  condition  of  affairs  in  this  country. 

“ Our  people,  intelligent  men  and  women,  have  not  only 
made  our  political  institutions  what  they  are,  but  they  have 
shown  themselves  able  and  patriotic  enough  to  defend  and 
preserve  them,  as  a matchless  inheritance  handed  down 
to  us  by  our  fathers.  For  twenty  years,  the  watchword  of 
the  people  has  been  Liberty  and  Union ; and,  under  such 
inspiration,  the  Union  has  been  saved,  ideas  in  harmony 
with  its  perpetuity  have  been  well  grounded  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  liberty  has  become  universal,  the  National 
credit  has  been  established,  and  confidence  in  republican 
government  greatly  strengthened  in  the  minds  of  states- 
men everywhere. 

“The  struggle  which  secured  all  these  great  blessings 
cost  millions  of  money,  and  thousands  of  brave  and  patri- 
otic lives ; and,  as  we  recede  from  the  period  of  the  strug- 
gle, we  must  not  forget  the  greatness  of  the  sacrifices, 
nor  those  who  made  them.  The  deeds  of  heroism  of  the 
Union  soldier  of  the  late  war  should  be  remembered  with 
gratitude,  as  long  as  history  shall  endure. 

“ The  foundation  of  our  political  structure  is  the  ballot. 
It  is  the  expression  of  the  divine  right  of  the  people  to 
rule.  It  raises  up  men  and  parties,  and  casts  them  down. 
It  is  the  fiat  of  power ; but  to  be  valuable,  and  accomplish 
its  true  purpose  and  end,  this  voice  of  the  people  must  be 
—21 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


fairly  expressed.  Founded  on  intelligence,  it  should  be 
without  coercion,  bribery  or  intimidation ; and  thus  cast, 
it  should  be  honestly  counted  in  determining  results. 
These  sentiments  may  appear  familiar  and  trite,  but  they 
can  not  be  too  often  repeated,  and  especially  should  those 
who,  as  servants  of  the  people,  have  to  perform  legislative 
or  executive  functions,  constantly  remember  that  the  chief 
end  and  aim  of  their  service  should  be  to  preserve  and 
transmit  our  free  institutions,  which  can  only  be  done 
when  the  will  of  an  intelligent  people  is  assured  of  a free 
and  pure  expression  by  the  ballot.” 

The  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  was  in  session  nearly 
six  months.  In  the  early  part  of  the  session  Eepresenta- 
tive  Harper  introduced  a bill  for  the  purpose  of  creating 
a uniform  license  for  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors.  This 
became  a party  measure,  the  Eepublicans  taking  the 
affirmative  side  of  the  question,  and  the  Democrats  accept- 
ing the  negative.  The  bill  was  introduced  on  the  26th  of 
January,  and  continued  to  be  the  subject  of  discussion  in 
the  House  until  June  8,  when  it  passed  by  a vote  of  79 
yeas  to  65  nays.  It  had  the  support  of  all  the  Eepub- 
licans save  four,  and  the  opposition  of  all  the  Democrats 
but  nine.  In  the  Senate  the  bill  was  passed  June  15,  by 
a vote  of  30  yeas  to  20  nays.  Twenty-nine  Eepublicans 
and  one  Democrat  voted  for  it,  and  nineteen  Democrats 
and  one  Eepublican  against  it.  An  hour  after  its  passage 
it  received  the  signature  of  Gov.  Hamilton,  and  on  the  1st 
of  July  it  became  the  law. 

Of  the  Eepublicans  in  the  House  who  were  most  active 
for  the  bill  were,  Adams,  Bethea,  W.  F.  Calhoun,  W.  J.  Cal- 
houn, Coats,  Fuller,  Hoffman,  Johnson,  Littler,  McCartney, 
Morrison,  Owen,  Parker,  Stimming,  Thomas  and  Worthing- 
ton, and  of  the  Democrats,  Day,  Grear,  Greathouse,  Gregg 
and  Willoughby ; and  of  the  Democrats  who  most  actively 
opposed  the  passage  of  the  measure  were,  Abrahams,  Bill- 
ings, Crafts,  Haines,  Herrington,  Klupp,  Linegar,  McNally, 
Quinn,  Sexton,  Starkel,  Vaughey  and  Yancey,  and  of  the 
Eepublicans,  Wendell.  In  the  Senate  the  Eepublicans  who 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  . 323 

were  most  active  for  the  bill  were,  Clough,  Fifer,  Hogan, 
Hunt,  and  Eice,  and  of  the  Democrats,  Edwards;  and  of 
Democrats  most  active  in  opposing  it  were,  Duncan,  Ham- 
ilton, Merritt  and  Shaw,  and  of  the  Republicans,  Needles. 

Mr.  Morrison  was  the  acknowledged  leader  on  the  Re- 
publican side,  and  Mr.  Haines — although  an  Independent 
— on  the  Democratic.  The  contest  was  long,  and,  at 
times,  very  exciting,  and  it  remained  a matter  of  doubt 
as  to  which  side  would  triumph,  until  the  very  hour  the 
final  vote  was  taken.  The  leaders  were  very  evenly 
matched  as  to  ability  and  parliamentary  tactics. 

This  was  the  important  measure  of  the  session.  Exclu- 
sive of  the  appropriation  acts  there  were  few  bills  passed, 
and  they  were  not  momentous  in  character,  if  we  except 
“House  Bill  No.  504,”  entitled  “An  act  to  enable  railroad 
companies  to  extend  their  lines  or  construct  branches  to 
points  not  named  in  their  articles  of  incorporation,  and 
to  enable  any  railroad  company  in  this  State  to  have 
power  to  purchase,  own  and  hold  the  stock  and  securities 
of  any  railroad  that  forms  a continuous  line  of  travel 
from  this  to  another  State,”  which  received  the  veto  of 
the  Governor.  His  objections  to  the  bill  are  plainly  and 
forcibly  set  forth  in  this  extract  from  his  veto  message; 

“ To  allow  this  bill  to  become  a law,  would  be  to  allow 
the  officers  and  directors  of  any  railroad  company  in  this 
State  to  use  the  surplus  earnings  of  the  road — which  by 
law  belongs  to  the  stockholders — in  the  purchase  and 
manipulation  of  railroad  stocks  and  securities,  in  the 
market,  and  thus  permit  them  to  become  powerful  spec- 
ulators in  the  stocks  and  securities  of  their  own  company 
and  those  of  all  other  companies  formed  in  other  States, 
with  whose  lines  of  railroad  they  may  connect  at  the 
borders  of  this  State  anywhere,  or  with  which  they  may 
form  a continuous  line  of  travel. 

“ The  grant  of  such  extraordinary  powers  and  privileges 
to  the  officers  of  a railroad  company  would  enable  them 
to  manipulate  the  price  of  the  stocks  and  securities  of 
their  own  company  at  will,  and  controlling  the  fortunes 
and  business  of  the  railroad,  to  artificially  force  the  price 


4524 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  such  sucurities  up  or  down,  as  they  pleased,  and  thus 
by  the  'freezing  out’  process,  well  known  in  corporation 
circles,  the  number  of  stockholders  would  in  due  course 
of  time  be  limited  to  the  few  manipulators,  and  at  a 
financial  sacrifice  to  those  stockholders  not  in  the  official 
management. 

“ But  the  grant  of  such  dangerous  power  as  this  proposed 
in  the  bill  would  enable  railroad  corporations  to  accom- 
plish another  great  wrong,  intended  to  be  forbidden  by 
the  policy  of  our  constitution  and  laws.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  bill,  if  it  should  become  a law,  any  railroad 
company  organized  under  the  laws  of  this  State,  whose 
line  of  railroad  runs  into  Chicago,  for  instance,  or  any 
other  locality  on  the  border  of  the  State,  and  there  con- 
nects or  forms  a continuous  line  of  travel  with  railroads 
running  through  and  organized  in  another  State — might, 
from  its  accumulating  surplus  capital,  purchase  the  stocks 
and  securities  of  such  'connecting’  or  'continuous’  rail- 
road in  another  State  without  limitation,  until  it  could 
own  the  majority  of  such  stocks  and  securities,  and  thereby 
own  and  control  any  one,  or  any  number  of  these  lines ; 
thus,  in  fact,  combining  them  into  one  vast  and  powerful 
monopoly  by  a consolidation  of  capital  in  fact — although 
formal  consolidations  of  the  corporations  are  expressly 
and  wisely  forbidden  by  law,  particularly  as  to  parallel 
or  competing  lines. 

“I  especially  object  to  the  last  clause  of  this  bill,  which 
is  as  follows : 'And  any  purchases  (i.  e.  of  stocks  or  secur- 
ities) heretofore  made  within  the  purposes  of  this  act  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  lawful.’ 

“The  object  of  this  clause  is  plain,  and  can  not  be  mis- 
taken. It  is  to  quietly  legalize  confessedly  illegal  acts 
heretofore  committed.” 

This  was  the  first  test  Governor  Hamilton  had  with 
legislation  of  doubtful  import,  and  his  emphatic  disap- 
proval of  it  met  the  hearty  approbation  of  the  people. 

A joint  resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution, giving  the  Governor  power  to  veto  objectionable 
portions  of  appropriation  bills  without  impairing  the  valid- 
ity of  the  whole  act,  passed  both  houses. 

Although  Governor  Cullom,  in  retiring  from  the  Execu- 
tive chair,  left  the  people  in  perfect  peace,  the  adminis- 
tration of  his  successor  was  soon  disturbed  by  the  outbreak 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


325 


of  a mob  in  the  mining  district  of  St.  Clair  county,  and 
the  Illinois  National  Guard  was  called  out  to  aid  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  law.  In  this  conflict  one  of  the  dis- 
turbers of  the  peace  lost  his  life,  and  in  concluding  an 
elaborate  report  to  the  General  Assembly,  concerning  the 
use  of  the  State  militia  on  that  occasion,  Governor  Ham- 
ilton said: 

“I  regret  as  much  as  any  one  the  necessity  which 
caused  the  shedding  of  blood  and  loss  of  human  life.  But 
in  this  State,  men  of  all  classes  must  seek  redress  for 
wrongs  by  peaceful  and  quiet  means,  and  the  remedies 
afforded  to  all  people  in  the  law.  They  must  not  attempt 
to  defy  the  government,  trample  law  under  foot,,  and  en- 
force their  demands  by  violence  and  intimidation.  There 
can  be  no  objection  to  workingmen  of  any  kind  refusing; 
to  work,  when  dissatisfied  with  their  wages,  and  thus 
peaceably  demanding  and  obtaining  higher  wages,  but  they 
have  no  right  to  assemble  themselves  into  a lawless  mob  of 
rioters,  and  go  about  the  country  taking  possession  of 
property  not  their  own,  and  preventing  other  workingmen, 
who  are  satisfied  and  who  want  to  work,  from  work,  by 
abuse,  assault,  threats,  intimidation  and  terrorizing,  or  by 
forcibly  compelling  them  to  cease  work.  The  workingmen, 
just  as  all  other  citizens,  must  and  shall  be  protected  in 
all  their  natural  and  legal  rights,  so  far  as  lies  in  my 
power,  while  chief  executive  of  this  State,  but  whenever 
they  attempt  to  redress  their  grievances  by  violence  and 
force,  and  thus  place  themselves  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
law’s  protection,  and  in  open  defiance  of  its  officers,  then 
they  will  come  into  unequal  contest  with  all  the  power  of 
the  government,  civil  and  military,  and  must  expect  to 
get  worsted  in  every  such  conflict.  For  the  government 
must  rule,  law  must  be  respected,  officers  obeyed  while  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duty,  and  the  peace  preserved  at 
all  hazards,  without  fear  or  favor. 

This  bold,  yet  calm  and  deliberate  expression  of  a deter- 
mination on  the  part  of  Governor  Hamilton,  that  he  in- 
tended to  see  that  the  majesty  of  the  law  was  upheld,  even 
though  in  order  to  do  so  he  would  have  to  use.  the  whole 
power  of  the  State,  was  opportune,  and  had  the  effect  to 
put  a sudden  end  to  the  mob  spirit  which  was  then  stalk- 
ing abroad  in  the  State,  and  threatened  the  destruction  of 
both  life  and  property. 


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CHAPTER  XLVI. 

JOHN  DEMENT, 


Col.  John  Dement,  who  died  at  his  home  in  Dixon,  on 
the  16th  of  January,  1883,  was  born  in  Sumner  county, 
Tennessee,  April,  1804.  He  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
parents  in  1817 ; he  soon  won  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple of  his  adopted  State,  and  was  elected  sheriff  of 
Franklin  county  in  1826;  he  represented  that  county  in 
the  General  Assemblies  of  1828-30;  he  participated  in 
three  campaigns  against  the  Indians ; in  the  first  he  was 
aid-de-camp  to  Gov.  Reynolds,  with  the  rank  of  Colonel; 
in  the  second  he  was  a Captain;  in  the  third  he  was  a 
Major,  and  commanded  a battalion,  which  had  a hotly 
contested  engagement  with  Black  Hawk  and  his  entire 
band  at  Kellogg’s  Grove,  in  which  that  noted  warrior  was 
repulsed ; and  Black  Hawk  is  reported  to  have  said  that 
Col.  Dement  was  the  bravest  man  he  ever  faced  in  a bat- 
tle. In  1831,  the  General  Assembly  elected  him  State 
Treasurer;  he  was  twice  re-elected,  but  resigned  the  office 
in  1836,  to  serve  the  people  of  Fayette  county  as  a Repre- 
sentative in  the  General  Assembly,  but  failing  in  his  efforts 
to  prevent  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Springfield,  he 
resigned  his  seat  in  that  body  and  removed  to  the  lead 
mines  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  In  1837,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Jackson  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys, 
and  held  the  office  through  the  Administration  of  Presi- 
dent Van  Buren,  but  in  1841,  President  Harrison  removed 
him.  In  1844,  he  was  district  elector  for  Polk  and  Dallas ; 
in  1845,  President  Polk  reappointed  him  Receiver  of  Public 
Moneys ; he  was  a delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1847 ; in  1849,  President  Taylor  removed  him  from 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


327 


the  office  of  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys ; in  1853,  President 
Pierce  reappointed  him  to  that  office,  which  he  continued 
to  hold  until  it  was  abolished;  in  1861,  he  was  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and  was  made 
president  pro  tempore . In  1870,  he  was  again  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention,  and  again  made 
president  pro  tempore.  Although  living  in  a strongly  Re- 
publican district,  he  was  always  sure  of  an  election  when- 
ever he  consented  to  be  a candidate.  In  his  reminiscen- 
ces, Linder  relates  the  following  incident  of  Col.  Dement, 
which  illustrates,  to  some  extent,  the  character  of  the 
man.  He  says : 

“ Colonel  Dement  was  not  only  brave,  but  in  the  face 
of  danger  he  was  cool,  cautious,  and  prudent.  That  I am 
a living  man  to-day,  I owe,  perhaps,  to  his  friendship, 
bravery  and  prudence.  In  1837,  after  I was  elected  to 
the  office  of  Attorney-General  of  Illinois,  I got  into  a diffi- 
culty with  a very  desperate  man,  who  was  a member  of 
the  Senate,  and  he  challenged  me,  and  General  James 
Turney  was  elected  by  him  as  his  second,  and  he  deliv- 
ered the  challenge  to  me.  I accepted  it,  and  referred  him 
to  Colonel  John  Dement  as  my  second,  who  would  fix  the 
distance  and  select  the  weapons.  Having  expected  this 
before  I received  the  challenge,  I had  informed  my  friend 
Dement  that  I expected  to  be  challenged,  and  that  I should 
select  him  for  my  second,  and  should  place  my  honor  and 
life  in  his  hands.  He  said  to  me : ‘ Linder,  I will  take 

charge  of  both;  and,  without  letting  your  honor  suffer, 
will  take  good  care  that  you  never  fight ; for  if  you  do, 
he  will  be  sure  to  kill  you,  for  he  is  as  cool  and  desperate 
as  a bandit.’  I replied,  that  the  matter  would  be  placed 
in  his  hands,  and  I should  refer  his  second  to  him  (Col. 
Dement)  as  my  second,  to  arrange  the  distance  and  select 
the  weapons  with  which  we  would  fight.  Accordingly, 
when  Gen.  Turney  called  upon  Col.  Dement,  Dement  in- 
formed him  that  we  would  fight  with  pistols  at  close  quar- 
ters, each  holding  one  end  of  the  same  handkerchief  in 
his  teeth. 

‘My  God!’  replied  Gen.  Turney,  ‘Col.  Dement,  that 
amounts  to  the  deliberate  murder  of  both  men.’ 

‘It  don’t  matter,’  said  Dement,  ‘your  principal  is  cool, 
desperate  and  deliberate,  while  my  friend  is  nervous  and 


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POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


excitable,  and  if  he  has  to  lose  his  life,  your  friend  must 
bear  him  company.’ 

“ Gen.  Turney  being  a very  humane  and  honorable  gen- 
tleman, and  really  as  much  my  friend  as  he  was  his 
principal’s,  said  to  Col.  Dement : ‘Colonel,  this  meeting 
must  never  take  place ; so  let  you  and  I take  this  matter 
in  hand  and  have  it  settled  in  an  amicable  way,  honor- 
able to  both  parties.’ 

“ ‘The  very  thing,’  said  Col.  Dement,  ‘ that  I have  desired 
to  bring  about.  Linder  is  a young  man,  and  has  just 
been  elected  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  and  has  an 
interesting  wife,  and  little  daughter  only  four  years  old, 
who  have  only  been  in  this  town  (Yandalia)  but  a few 
days,  and  it  would  be  next  to  breaking  my  heart  to  have 
the  one  made  a widow  and  the  other  an  orphan.’ 

“ They  agreed  that  a hostile  meeting  should  not  take 
place ; and  the  matter  was  amicably  and  honorably 
arranged  between  the  Senator  and  myself.  We  met,  made 
friends,  shook  hands,  and  to  the  last  day  of  his  life  we 
were  the  best  of  friends.” 

In  every  public  trust  Col,  Dement  filled  the  full  measure 
of  the  law;  he  was  able,  honest  and  faithful.  As  a man 
he  was  modest  and  unassuming;  as  a citizen,  no  man 
stood  higher;  as  a friend,  he  was  warm  and  true.  Polit- 
ically he  was  a Democrat,  but  during  the  war  for  the 
Union  he  was  an  active  supporter  of  the  government, 
and  his  only  son,  Henry  D.  Dement,  who  subsequently 
served  eight  years  as  Secretary  of  State,  wras  one  of 
the  first  to  volunteer  in  the  three  years’  service.  The 
death  of  Col.  Dement  was  deeply  mourned  by  the 
community  in  which  he  had  lived  so  long,  and  the 
General  Assembly  passed  resolutions  of  condolence, 
and  had  them  spread  upon  the  journals,  and  a copy 
sent  to  the  bereaved  family. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


329' 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

ABOUT  COLORED  PEOPLE. 


Governor  Coles  Fined  $2,000  under  the  Black  Laws— Why  Black  Laws  were 
Enacted— Black  Laws  Approved— Vote  of  the  State  in  1862  on  Article 
Prohibiting  Colored  Emigration— Vote  of  Soldiers  on  Prohibition  of 
Colored  Emigration— What  Connecticut  Did— What  Massachusetts  Did— 
Whatthe  Nation  Did— Transition  from  Slavery  to  Freedom— Whipped  and 
Ordered  from  the  State— A Case  of  Kidnapping— Tribulations  of  Free 
Negroes— A Free  Colored  Boy’s  Experience— Last  Attempt  to  Return  a 
Fugitive  Slave— Trials  of  Contrabands— Mobbed  on  Account  of  his  Vote 
—First  Colored  School— Blood-Hounds— Colored  Jurors— Adoption  of 
Amendments— First  Colored  Vote  Cast  in  Cairo. 


■ The  people  of  Illinois,  until  the  new  order  of  things,, 
have  ever  had  a fondness  for  black  laws.  There  was  a 
stringent  law  passed  by  the  State  Legislature  in  1819, 
which  was  similar  in  character  to  that  passed  in  1853.- 
Under  this  law,  in  1825,  a suit  was  instituted  against 
Governor  Coles  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Madison  county,, 
to  recover  a penalty  prescribed  by  that  law;  he  pleaded 
the  statute  of  limitation,  but  the  court  overruled  the  plea,, 
and  judgment  was  given  against  him  for  $2,000.  A motion 
was  made  for  a new  trial,  which  the  court  took  under 
advisement,  and  before  it  was  decided  the  Legislature- 
passed  an  act  releasing  all  penalties  under  the  act  of 
1819,  including  those  in  litigation ; but  the  court  declined 
to  grant  a new  trial,  when  the  case  was  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  where  the  judgment  was  reversed,  and 
Coles  discharged  from  all  liability.  (See  Gillespie’s  Recol- 
lections of  Early  Illinois.) 


330 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Black  Laws — Why  Enacted. 

The  changed  state  of  our  civilization,  as  regards  the  col- 
ored race,  makes  it  of  interest  to  the  reader  to  know  what 
the  black  laws  of  1853  were,  and  how  they  came  to  be  a 
part  of  the  laws  of  the  State.  Article  fourteen  of  the 
constitution  of  1848  reads  as  follows : “ The  General 

Assembly  shall,  at  its  first  session  under  the  amended 
constitution,  pass  such  laws  as  will  effectually  prohibit 
free  persons  of  color  from  immigrating  to  and  settling  in 
this  State ; and  to  effectually  prevent  the  owners  of  slaves 
from  bringing  them  into  this  State,  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  them  here.”  The  General  Assembly  of  1853,  act- 
ing in  accordance  with  this  provision  of  the  constitution, 
passed  the  following  act,  which  was  approved  February  12  : 

“An  Act  to  Prevent  the  Immigration  of  Free  Negroes 
into  this  State. 

“ Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of 
Illinois , represented  in  the  General  Assembly , That  if  any 
person  or  persons  shall  bring,  or  cause  to  be  brought,  into 
this  State,  any  negro  or  mulatto  slave,  whether  said  slave 
is  set  free  or  not,  he  shall  be  liable  to  an  indictment,  and, 
upon  conviction  thereof,  be  fined  for  every  such  negro  or 
mulatto,  a sum  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  nor 
more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  and  imprisoned  in  the 
county  jail  not  more  than  one  year,  and  shall  stand  com- 
mitted until  said  fine  and  costs  are  paid. 

“ Sec.  2.  When  an  indictment  shall  be  found  against 
any  person,  or  persons,  who  are  not  residents  of  this 
State,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  court  before  whom  said 
indictment  is  pending,  upon  affidavit  being  made  and 
filed  in  said  court  by  the  prosecuting  attorney,  or  any 
other  credible  witness,  setting  forth  the  residence  of  said 
defendant,  to  notify  the  Governor  of  this  State,  by  caus- 
ing the  clerk  of  said  court  to  transmit  to  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  a certified  copy  of  said  indictment  and 
affidavit,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governer,  upon 
the  receipt  of  said  copies,  to  appoint  some  suitable  person 
to  arrest  said  defendant  or  defendants,  in  whatever  State 
or  county  he  or  they  may  be  found,  and  to  commit  him 
or  them  to  the  jail  of  the  county  in  which  said  indictment 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


331 


is  pending,  there  to  remain  and  answer  said  indictment, 
and  be  otherwise  dealt  with  in  accordance  with  this  act ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  issue  all 
necessary  requisitions,  writs  and  papers,  to  the  Governor 
or  other  executive  officer  of  the  State,  territory  or  prov- 
ince where  such  defendant  or  defendants  may  be  found : 
Provided , that  this  section  shall  not  be  construed  so  as  to 
affect  persons,  or  slaves,  bona  fide  traveling  through  this 
State,  from  and  to  any  other  State  in  the  United  States. 

“ Sec.  3.  If  any  negro,  or  mulatto,  bond  or  free,  shall 
hereafter  come  into  this  State  and  remain  ten  days,  with 
the  evident  intention  of  residing  in  the  same,  every  such 
negro  or  mulatto  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a high  misde- 
meanor, and  for  the  first  offence  shall  be  fined  the  sum 
of  fifty  dollars,  to  be  recovered  before  any  justice  of  the 
peace  in  the  county  where  said  negro  or  mulatto  may  be 
found.  Said  proceedings  shall  be  in  the  name  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  shall  be  tried  by  a jury 
of  twelve  men.  The  person  making  the  information  or 
complaint  shall  not  be  a competent  witness  upon  said 
trial. 

“ Sec.  4.  If  said  negro  or  mulatto  shall  be  found  guilty, 
and  the  fine  assessed  be  not  paid  forthwith  to  the  justice 
of  the  peace  before  whom  said  proceedings  were  had,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  said  justice  to  commit  said  negro  or 
mulatto  to  the  custody  of  the  sheriff  of  said  county,  or 
otherwise  keep  him,  her  or  them  in  custody;  and  said 
justice  shall  forthwith  advertise  said  negro  or  mulatto,  by 
posting  up  notices  thereof  in  at  least  three  of  the  most 
public  places  in  his  district,  which  said  notices  shall  be 
posted  up  for  ten  days,  and  on  the  day  and  at  the  time 
and  place  mentioned  in  said  advertisement,  the  said  jus- 
tice shall,  at  public  auction,  proceed  to  sell  said  negro 
or  mulatto  to  any  person  or  persons  who  will  pay 
said  fine  and  costs,  for  the  shortest  time;  and  said  pur- 
chaser shall  have  the  right  to  compel  said  negro  or  mu- 
latto to  work  for  and  serve  out  said  time,  and  he  shall 
furnish  said  negro  or  mulatto  with  comfortable  food,  cloth- 
ing and  lodging  during  said  servitude. 

“ Sec.  5,  If  said  negro  or  mulatto  shall  not,  within  ten 
days  after  the  expiration  of  his,  her,  or  their  time  of  ser- 
vice as  aforesaid,  leave  the  State,  he,  she  or  they  shall 
be  liable  to  a second  prosecution,  in  which  the  penalty 
to  be  inflicted  shall  be  one  hundred  dollars,  and  so  on 
for  every  subsequent  offence  the  penalty  shall  be  increased 


332 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


fifty  dollars  over  and  above  the  last  penalty  inflicted,  and 
the  same  proceedings  shall  be  had  in  each  case  as  is  pro- 
vided for  in  the  preceding  section  for  the  first  offence. 

“ Sec.  6.  Said  negro  or  mulatto  shall  have  a right  to 
take  an  appeal  to  the  circuit  court  of  the  county  in  which 
said  proceedings  shall  have  been  had,  within  five  days 
after  the  rendition  of  the  judgment,  before  the  justice  of 
the  peace,  by  giving  bond  and  security,  to  be  approved 
by  the  clerk  of  said  court,  to  the  people  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  said  clerk  within 
said  five  days,  in  double  the  amount  of  said  fine  and 
costs,  conditioned  that  the  party  appealing  will  personally 
be  and  appear  before  said  circuit  court  at  the  next  term 
thereof,  and  not  depart  said  court  without  leave,  and  will 
pay  said  fine  and  all  costs,  if  the  same  shall  be  so 
adjudged  by  said  court;  and  said  security  shall  have  the 
right  to  take  said  negro  or  mulatto  into  custody,  and  re- 
tain the  same  until  the  order  of  said  court  is  complied 
with.  And  if  the  judgment  of  the  justice  of  the  peace 
be  affirmed  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  said  negro  or  mulatto 
be  found  guilty,  the  said  circuit  court  shall  thereupon 
render  judgment  against  said  negro  or  mulatto  and  the 
security  or  securities  on  said  appeal  bond,  for  the  amount 
of  fine  so  found  by  the  court,  and  all  costs  of  suit,  and 
the  clerk  of  said  court  shall  forthwith  issue  an  execution 
against  said  defendant  and  security  as  in  other  cases,  and 
the  sheriff  or  other  officer  to  whom  said  execution  is 
directed  shall  proceed  to  collect  the  same  by  sale  or  other- 
wise : Provided,  that  this  section  shall  not  be  so  construed 
as  to  give  the  security  on  said  appeal  bond  right  to  re- 
tain the  custody  of  said  negro  or  mulatto  for  a longer 
time  than  ten  days  after  the  rendition  of  said  judgment 
by  said  circuit  court. 

“ Sec.  7.  In  all  cases  arising  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  the  prosecuting  witness,  or  person  making  the  com- 
plaint and  prosecuting  the  same,  shall  be  entitled  to  one- 
half  of  the  fine  so  imposed  and  collected,  and  the  residue 
of  &aid  fine  shall  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury  of  the 
county  in  which  said  proceedings  were  had ; and  said  fines, 
when  so  collected,  shall  be  received  by  said  county  treas- 
urer and  kept  by  him  as  a distinct  and  separate  fund,  to 
be  called  the  ‘charity  fund,’  and  said  fund  shall  be  used 
for  the  express  and  only  purpose  of  relieving  the  poor  of 
said  county,  and  shall  be  paid  out  by  said  treasurer  upon 
the  order  of  the  county,  drawn  upon  him  for  that  purpose. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


333 


“ Sec.  8.  If,  after  any  negro  or  mulatto  shall  have  been 
arrested  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  any  person  or 
persons  shall  claim  any  such  negro  or  mulatto  as  a slave, 
the  owner,  by  himself,  or  agent,  shall  have  a right  by 
giving  reasonable  notice  to  the  officer  or  person  having 
the  custody  of  said  negro  or  mulatto,  to  appear  before  the 
justice  of  the  peace  before  whom  said  negro  or  mulatto 
shall  have  been  arrested,  and  prove  his  or  their  right  to 
the  custody  of  said  negro  or  mulatto  as  a slave,  and  if 
said  justice  of  the  peace  shall,  after  hearing  the  evidence, 
be  satisfied  that  the  person  or  persons  claiming  said 
negro  or  mulatto,  is  the  owner  of  and  entitled  to  the  cus- 
tody of  said  negro  or  mulatto,  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  passed  upon  this  subject,  he 
shall,  upon  the  owner  or  agent  paying  all  costs  up  to  the 
time  of  claiming  said  negro  or  mulatto,  and  the  costs  of 
proving  the  same,  and  also  the  balance  of  the  fine  remain- 
ing unpaid,  give  to  said  owner  a certificate  of  said  facts, 
and  said  owner  or  agent  so  claiming  shall  have  a right  to 
take  and  remove  said  slave  out  of  this  State. 

“ Sec.  9.  If  any  justice  of  the  peace  shall  refuse  to 
issue  any  writ  of  process  necessary  for  the  arrest  and 
prosecution  or  any  negro  or  mulatto,  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  upon  complaint  being  made  before  said  jus- 
tice by  any  resident  of  his  county,  and  his  fees  for  said 
service  being  tendered  him,  he  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  non- 
feasance in  office,  and  upon  conviction  thereof  punished 
accordingly;  and  in  all  cases  where  the  jury  find  for  the 
negro  or  mulatto,  or  that  he,  she  or  they  are  not  guilty 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  said  justice  of  the 
peace  shall  proceed  to  render  judgment  against  the  prose- 
cuting witness,  or  person  making  the  complaint,  and  shall 
collect  the  same  as  other  judgments : Provided , that  said 
prosecuting  witness,  or  person  making  said  complaint,  in 
case  judgment  is  rendered  against  him,  shall  have  aright 
to  take  an  appeal  to  the  circuit  court,  as  is  provided  for 
in  this  act  in  case  said  negro  or  mulatto  is  found  guilty. 

“ Sec.  10.  Every  person  who  shall  have  one-fourth  negro 
blood  shall  be  deemed  a mulatto. 

“Sec.  11.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
from  and  after  its  passage.” 

Black  Laws  Approved. 

The  present  and  future  generations  may  be  disposed  to 
view  with  feelings  of  horror  men  who  would  deliberately 


334 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


pass  such  a law,  little  thinking  that  it  was  the  fault  of 
the  people  themselves.  At  that  period,  a majority  of  the 
people  of  Illinois  loathed  the  very  presence  of  the  colored 
man,  and  were  unwilling  to  accord  to  him  any  of  the  civil 
or  political  rights  enjoyed  by  the  white  man.  The  article 
of  the  constitution  which  enjoined  upon  the  General  Assem- 
bly the  passage  of  this  act  was  submitted  to  a separate 
vote  of  the  people  when  the  constitution  was  voted  upon, 
and  it  was  adopted  by  a majority  of  28,938;  and  in  1862? 
the  people  confirmed  the  work  of  the  Legislature  of  1853  by 
adopting  Article  18,  Sections  one,  two  and  three  of  the 
then  proposed  constitution,  which  was  submitted  to  them 
for  their  adoption  or  rejection,  by  an  unprecedented 
majority.  That  article  was  in  these  words: 

Article  18. 

“ Section  1.  No  negro  or  mulatto  shall  migrate  to  or 
settle  in  this  State,  after  the  adoption  of  this  constitu- 
tion. 

“ Sec.  2.  No  negro  or  mulatto  shall  have  the  right  of 
suffrage  or  hold  office  in  this  State. 

“ Sec.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  all  laws 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

Vote  in  1862  on  Article  Prohibiting  Colored  Immigration. 

There  was  a majority  of  24,515  against  the  constitution. 
Article  18  was  voted  on  separately,  and  by  sections;  the 
vote  for  section  1 was,  178,252;  against,  73,287.  Majority 
for  section  1,  104,965. 

For  section  2,  218,405 ; against,  37,548.  Majority  for 
section  2,  180,857. 

For  section  3,  205,398;  against,  46,318.  Majority  for 
section  3,  159,080. 

Vote  of  the  Soldiers. 

The  framers  of  the  proposed  constitution  had  provided 
for  the  soldiers  in  the  field  voting  on  the  adoption  or  re- 
jection of  the  constitution.  The  vote  in  the  army  was  as 
follows : 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


335 


For  the  constitution,  1,687;  against,  10,151.  Majority 
against,  8,464. 

For  Section  1,  Article  18,  6,356;  against,  1,981  Major- 
ity for,  4,375. 

For  Section  2,  Article  18,  6,485;  against,  1,899.  Majority 
for,  4,586. 

For  Section  3,  Article  18,  6,460;  against,  1,904.  Majority 
for,  4,556. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  nine  years  after  the  passage 
of  the  black  laws,  the  people  assembled  at  the  ballot-box, 
at  a time  when  there  was  no  political  excitement,  and 
reaffirmed,  through  the  medium  of  the  ballot,  the  very  prin- 
ciples embodied  in  the  black  laws ; and  although  the  State 
had  at  that  time  near  a hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the 
field,  many  of  whom  were  without  an  opportunity  to  vote, 
the  aggregate  vote  in  the  State  on  the  adoption  or  rejec- 
tion of  the  constitution  was  277,998,  being  only  58,411 
votes  less  than  was  cast  at  the  Presidential  election  in 
1860,  when  the  full  strength  of  the  political  parties  was 
brought  out  to  the  polls.  It  is  sometimes  a habit  with 
men  engaged  in  active  politics  to  select  the  name  of  some 
prominent  leader,  and  charge  to  him  the  responsibility  of 
the  passage  of  a bad  or  unpopular  law;  but  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  passage  of  the  black  laws  cannot  be  so 
charged,  for  the  reason  that  the  people  themselves  are 
responsible  for  them,  and  the  Legislature  but  reflected 
their  will. 

What  Connecticut  Did. 

It  is  not  strange,  however,  that  Illinois  should  have 
partaken  of  the  spirit  to  oppress  the  negro,  when  we  bear 
in  mind  that  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  National 
Constitution  every  State  in  the  Union,  except  Massachu- 
setts, tolerated  slavery,  and  in  most  of  them  the  laws  were 
severe  and  arbitrary;  but  even  Massachusetts  had  toler- 
ated the  institution  in  Colonial  times,  and  hence  none  of 


.836 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  original  States  are  exempt  from  the  charge  of  having 
had  a share  in  its  barbarism. 

In  1833,  Miss  Prudence  Crandall  opened  her  school  at 
Canterbury,  Windham  county,  Connecticut,  to  the  educa- 
tion of  negro  girls.  This  greatly  incensed  the  people  of 
that  community,  and  on  the  24th  of  May  of  that  year, 
the  Legislature  passed  an  act,  with  the  view  of  destroy- 
ing or  breaking  up  her  school,  the  preamble  of  wThich 
reads  thus : “ Whereas,  attempts  have  been  made  to  estab- 
lish literary  institutions  in  this  State  for  the  instruction 
of  colored  persons  belonging  to  other  States  and  countries, 
which  would  tend  to  the  great  increase  of  the  colored 
population  in  the  State,  and  thereby  to  the  injury  of  the 
people.”  The  act  provided  that  no  person  should  set  up 
or  establish,  in  that  State,  any  school,  academy  or  liter- 
ary institution  for  the  instruction  or  education  of  colored 
persons  who  were  not  inhabitants  of  that  State,  nor 
instruct  or  teach  in  any  school,  academy  or  literary  in- 
stitution whatever  in  that  State,  or  harbor  or  board  for 
the  purpose  of  attending  or  being  taught  or  instructed  in 
any  such  school,  academy  or  literary  institution,  any  col- 
ored person  who  was  not  an  inhabitant  of  any  town  in 
that  State,  without  the  consent,  in  writing,  of  a majority 
of  the  selectmen  of  the  town  in  which  such  school, 
academy  or  literary  institution  was  located.  The  penalty 
provided  was  a fine  of  $100,  for  the  first  offense ; for  the 
second,  $200,  and  so  double  the  amount  for  every  offense 
he  or  she  might  commit.  (See  Revised  Statutes  of  Con- 
necticut, of  1835.)  Under  this  law,  Miss  Crandall  was 
prosecuted.  The  case  was  tried  in  the  Superior  Court,  at 
Brooklyn,  .October  term,  1833,  before  Judge  Daggett,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Errors.  Mr.  Daggett,  in 
his  instructions  to  the  jury,  adverting  to  the  import  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  relating  to  citizen- 
ship, said: 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


837 


4‘  To  my  mind,  it  would  be  a perversion  of  terms  and  the 
well-known  rule  of  construction,  to  say  that  slaves,  free 
blacks,  or  Indians,  were  citizens,  within  the  meaning  of 
that  term  as  used  by  the  Constitution.  God  forbid  that 
I should  add  to  the  degradation  of  this  race  of  men ; but 
I am  bound,  by  my  duty,  to  say  they  are  not  citizens.” 

The  jury  brought  in  a verdict  of  guilty,  and  Miss  Cran- 
dall was  fined  $100.  The  case  was  appealed  to  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Errors.  Thomas  Day,  the  official  reporter, 
in  reporting  the  proceedings  of  the  case,  says : 

“ Judson  and  C.  F.  Cleaveland,  for  the  State  (defendant 
in  error),  after  remarking  upon  the  magnitude  of  the  ques- 
tion, as  affecting  not  the  town  of  Canterbury  alone,  but 
every  town  in  the  State  and  every  State  in  the  Union,  said 
the  principles  urged  by  the  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  in 
error,  if  established,  would,  in  their  consequences,  destroy 
the  government  itself  and  this  American  Nation — blotting 
out  this  Nation  of  white  men  and  substituting  one  from 
the  African  race — thus  involving  the  honor  of  the  State, 
the  dignity  of  the  people,  and  the  preservation  of  its 
name.”  (See  10th  Connecticut  Reports,  p.  389.) 

The  judgment  of  the  lower  court  was  reversed,  and  Miss 
Crandall  resumed  her  school,  but  it  was  finally  broken  up 
by  violence  and  arson.* 

What  Massachusetts  Did. 

In  1835,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  while  addressing  a 
Boston  audience  in  opposition  to  slavery,  was  seized  by 
what  is  known  as  the  broad-cloth  mob,  a rope  was  thrown 
round  his  body  and  he  was  dragged  through  the  principal 
streets  of  that  city,  for  no  other  offense  than  having  raised 
his  voice  against  the  institution  of  slavery. 

In  the  same  city,  in  1837,  in  a meeting  which  had  been 
called  at  Faneuil  Hall,  to  denounce  the  murder  of  Elijah 
P.  Lovejoy  at  Alton,  as  a monstrous  crime,  James  T.  Aus- 
tin, then  the  Attorney- General  of  that  State,  made  a vio- 
lent speech  in  justification  of  the  murder.  (See  History  of 

♦In  1886,53  years  Afterward,  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut  passed  a joint  resolution  appropriating 
$400  per  year,  to  be  paid  to  Prudence  Philleo  (nee  Crandall)  during  her  life,  as  a partial  recognition  or 
the  wrongs  done  her  in  1833-34. 

— 22 


838 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Massachusetts.)  If  such  things  could  take  place  in  en- 
lightened ( !)  Massachusetts,  far  remote  from  slavery  and  its 
debasing  influences,  Illinois,  with  two  slave  States  for 
neighbors,  will  certainly  be  excused  for  the  part  she 
took  in  opposing  the  liberty  or  civil  rights  of  the  colored 
man. 

What  the  Nation  Did. 

But  far  more  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  the  feeling  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  was  so  intense  against  the 
abolitionist  or  friend  of  the  negro,  that  President  Jackson, 
a brave,  good  man,  renowned  for  his  ability  and  moral 
courage,  felt  called  upon  to  recommend  to  Congress  in  his 
message  of  December  7,  1885,  the  passage  of  an  act  for 
excluding  from  the  mails  abolition  newspapers  and  publi- 
cations, and  a bill  was  introduced  into  the  Senate,  in  1836, 
for  that  purpose.  When  it  was  under  discussion  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  on  June  2,  Mr.  Calhoun,  Senator  from 
South  Carolina,  introduced  an  amendment  providing  for 
burning  or  otherwise  destroying  such  papers  or  documents, 
which  was  adopted,  but  when,  on  June  9,  the  bill  came 
up  for  final  passage,  it  was  lost,  by  a vote  of  19  ayes  to 
25  noes.  The  Illinois  Senators,  Kent  and  Ewing,  voted 
against  the  bill.  Henry  Clay,  Senator  from  Kentucky,  a 
slave  State,  voted  against  the  bill,  while  James  Buchanan, 
afterward  President  of  the  United  States,  from  the  free 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  voted  for  the  bill. 

In  further  extenuation  of  the  position  occupied  by  Illi- 
nois as  regards  the  rights  of  the  negro,  we  cite  the  fact 
that,  notwithstanding  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
declared  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  from  the  First 
Congress,  which  convened  March  4,  1789,  under  the  Con- 
stitution of  “the  more  perfect  Union,”  to  the  Thirty- 
sixth,  which  met  December  5,  1859,  there  was  no  legis- 
lation which  tended  to  improve  the  condition  of  the 
colored  race ; and  as  late  as  December,  1856,  the  Supreme 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


339 


Court  rendered  an  opinion,  the  most  elaborate  ever  written 
by  that  body,  which  solemnly  declared  that  the  negro  had 
no  rights  under  the  laws  of  the  land,  which  white  men 
were  bound  to  observe.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  Illinois  should  have  been  blind  upon 
the  subject;  but  when  the  emancipation  proclamation 
gave  the  colored  man  his  liberty,  and  the  thirteenth, 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  amendments  to  the  National 
Constitution  secured  him  equal  rights  and  protection  with 
the  white  man,  under  the  laws  of  the  land,  Illinois  was 
quick  to  repeal  all  laws  which  created  a distinction  be- 
tween the  races ; and  on  February  7,  1865,  the  Legisla.- 
ture  passed  an  act  repealing  the  black  laws  of  1853,  and 
those  on  the  statutes  of  1845.  In  the  constitution  of  1870 
was  omitted  the  word  white,  and  in  1874  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  giving  colored  children  equal  rights  with  the 
white  in  the  public  schools.  And  now  there  is  none  to 
molest  or  make  afraid  the  colored  man  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition. 

Transition  from  Slavery  to  Freedom. 

The  transition  of  the  colored  man  from  the  position  of  a slave 
or  menial  to  that  of  a citizen  of  the  United  States,  was  so 
rapid  as  not  always  to  leave  upon  his  mind  a proper  idea 
of  his  relation  to  society,  politics  or  the  Government  itself ; 
and  there  has  been  some  disposition  to  claim  more  rights 
and  privileges  than  are  contemplated  in  the  laws  which 
gave  him  his  freedom  and  citizenship,  chief  among  which 
is  the  demand  for  office.  Now  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  Constitution  of  .the  United  States  does  not  recog- 
nize as  a qualification  to  office  any  particular  race.  A 
person  is  not  elected  Senator  or  Representative  to  Con- 
gress because  he  is  an  Englishman,  Irisiiman,  Frenchman 
or  German,  but  because  he  is  a citizen  of  the  United 
States,  by  birth  or  adoption,  and  has  attained  the  proper 


340 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


age,  and  possesses  the  moral  and  intellectual  qualifications 
to  entitle  him  to  occupy  the  trust.  The  thirteenth,  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  did  not  change  the  principles  governing 
this  question  in  the  least.  As  a rule,  men  are  chosen  to 
high  positions  of  public  trust  because  of  their  fitness,  and 
not  because  of  their  race  or  nationality.  If  the  colored 
man  would  enjoy  a share  in  the  public  trusts  of  the  State 
or  Nation,  he  must  fit  himself,  by  education  * and  moral 
training,  to  entitle  him  to  recognition  in  the  government 
of  the  country.  A greedy  scramble  or  clamor  for  office 
under  the  threat  that  if  these  people  are  not  given  place 
and  power  they  will  set  up  a party  for  themselves,  will 
tend  only  to  prolong  the  time  when  their  right  to  ask  for 
a voice  in  guiding  the  affairs  of  the  country  will  be  heard. 
There  is  too  great  an  odds  between  6,000,000  colored  peo- 
ple and  44,000,000  white,  for  them  to  think  of  drawing 
the  color  line,  in  a political  sense.  It  is  not  out  of  place, 
however,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  many  colored 
men  have  been  given  high  and  honorable  trusts  in  the 
governments  of  the  States  and  the  Nation  since  their  en- 
franchisement, but  in  most  cases  because  of  their  fitness 
to  hold  the  trusts.  In  some  of  the  Southern  States  col- 
ored men  have  been  elected  to  the  office  of  Governor, 
while  in  others  they  have  been  chosen  Senators  and  Re- 
presentatives in  the  General  Assemblies,  and  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  Congress;  and  in  Kansas,  an  original 
free  State,  a colored  man  has  been  elected  Secretary  of 
State.  In  Illinois,  the  colored  people  have  made  a very 
good  start  in  regard  to  the  advancement  of  their  race, 
and  identified  with  the  prominent  business  interests  of  the 
State  are  found  many  active,  intelligent  colored  men ; and 
in  all  the  callings  or  pursuits  of  life  they  are  beginning 
to  take  front  places.  In  the  ministry  there  are  not  a few 
-eminent  men,  while  in  the  professions  of  law  and  medicine 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


341 


there  are  some  who  have  attained  prominence ; and 
in  the  arts,  we  call  to  mind  Dennis  Williams,  an  artist 
at  Springfield,  whose  portraits  of  some  of  our  distin- 
guished statesmen  have  gained  celebrity  throughout  the 
State.  In  political  affairs,  John  J.  Bird,  of  Cairo,  was 
the  first  colored  person  to  receive  recognition  from  the 
Executive  of  the  State.  Gov.  Beveridge  appointed  him 
one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Industrial  University  at  Cham- 
paign. Mr.  Bird  was  thrice  elected  Police  Magistrate  of 
Cairo,  first  in  1873  and  again  in  1877.  J.  W.  E.  Thomas, 
of  Chicago,  has  been  twice  a member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives ; he  served  in  that  body  in  1877,  and 
again  in  1883;  and  times  without  number  colored  men 
have  held  subordinate  positions  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  State — all  of  which  goes  to  show  that  there 
exists  no  disposition  to  keep  the  colored  man  in  check  in 
the  race  of  life. 

Of  the  colored  men  of  Illinois  who  deserve  more  than 
a passing  notice,  is  the  late  John  Jones,  of  Chicago,  who 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  in  1816 ; he  came  to  Illinois 
in  1841,  settling  at  Alton,  where  he  married  Mary  Rich- 
ardson, and  soon  after  removed  to  Chicago.  There  he 
accumulated  property,  and  so  conducted  himself  as  to  win 
the  respect  of  the  community,  and  was  well-known  among 
the  prominent  anti- slavery  men  of  the  country,  long  before 
the  war.  John  Brown  was  a frequent  visitor  at  his  house, 
and  the  escaped  slave,  in  his  perilous  journey  to  Canada, 
often  found  refuge  and  protection  under  his  hospitable 
roof.  The  last  time  John  Brown  was  his  guest,  he  was 
on  his  way  to  Harper’s  Ferry,  Virginia,  to  commence  an 
active  raid  against  slavery,  and  for  which  offense  he  was 
tried,  condemned  and  hung.  On  that  occasion  he  said 
to  Mr.  Jones  that  he  would  advise  him  to  lay  in  a good 
supply  of  cotton,  sugar  and  tobacco,  for  he  was  going  to 
“raise  their  price.” 


342 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


After  the  emancipation  proclamation,  and  adoption  of 
the  13th  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Jones  wrote  and  spoke  with  much  power  in 
behalf  of  the  repeal  of  the  black  laws,  and  the  enactment 
of  such  laws  as  would  give  his  people  equal  civil  and 
political  rights  with  the  whites ; and  when  the  colored 
man  was  enfranchised,  Mr.  Jones  was  one  of  the  first  in 
the  State  to  be  elected  to  an  office.  He  was  twice  elected 
one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Cook  county,  from  Chi- 
cago, and  served  each  time  with  Carter  Harrison,  by 
whom  he  was  highly  esteemed. 

After  a long  and  useful  life,  he  died  on  the  21st  of 
May,  1879,  leaving  a widow  and  one  child.  His  estate 
was  valued  at  $70,000. 

Mrs.  Jones’  father  was  a resident  of  Alton  at  the  time 
of  the  murder  of  Eev.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  and  Mrs.  Jones 
was  then  a girl  of  some  fifteen  years.  She  vividly  remem- 
bers the  tragedy,  and  the  sad  and  silent  little  funeral 
procession  which  followed  his  remains  to  the  burial  ground, 
for  it  passed  by  her  father’s  house. 

Whipped  and  Ordered  from  the  State. 

Notwithstanding  Illinois  was  consecrated  to  freedom,  she 
has  had,  from  first  to  last,  many  pro- slavery  citizens,  and 
among  the  towns  in  which  resided  some  of  the  more  out- 
spoken, was  Griggsville,  Pike  county.  An  Abolitionist 
had  few  friends  there ; indeed  he  was  regarded  as  a person 
beneath  the  respect  of  the  people.  In  1845,  during  the  agita- 
tion of  the  question  of  annexing  Texas  to  the  United  States, 
a stranger  happened  into  the  town  on  the  evening  of  a meet- 
ing of  the  Lyceum,  and  after  the  business  hour  had  passed 
he  stated  that  he  had  a petition  which  he  would  be  glad  to  have 
those  present  sign,  and  quite  a number  attached  their  names 
without  knowing  its  real  object ; but  next  morning,  after  the 
stranger  had  taken  his  departure,  it  became  known  to  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


343 


leading  pro-slavery  men  that  it  was  a petition  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  when  the 
stranger  was  followed,  the  petition  taken  from  him  and  he 
whipped  and  commanded  to  leave  the  State  without  de- 
lay. An  effort  was  subsequently  made  to  compel  every 
signer  to  withdraw  his  name,  which  they  all  did,  with  the 
exception  of  0.  M.  Hatch  and  Nathan  French,  and  the 
latter  was  hotly  pursued  to  the  store  of  Starne  & Alex- 
ander, where  he  obtained  an  axe-helve  and  prepared  to 
defend  himself  to  the  last  extremity.  In  the  meantime, 
John  M.  Palmer,  then  the  Yankee  clock  peddler,  coming 
in  at  the  rear  entrance,  handed  French  a pistol,  saying 
at  the  same  time,  “defend  yourself  with  that,”  and  with 
these  weapons  Mr.  French  succeeded  in  driving  away  his 
assailants. 


A Case  of  Kidnapping. 

In  1845,  Joseph  Dobbs,  of  Tennessee,  a man  of  educa- 
tion and  refinement,  inherited  some  eight  or  ten  families 
of  slaves,  numbering  in  all  about  forty  persons,  but  being 
opposed  to  slavery  he  removed  with  them  to  Illinois,  set- 
tling in  Pope  county,  where  he  bought  for  each  head  of 
a family  a small  tract  of  land  on  which  to  begin  life,  and 
gave  to  all  their  free  papers.  Mr.  Dobbs  was  a bachelor, 
and  spent  much  of  his  time  in  looking  after  the  interests 
of  his  colored  colony  with  almost  as  much  tenderness  as 
though  they  had  been  his  own  children.  In  the  spring 
of  1846,  three  of  the  most  likely  children  were  stolen  by 
Joseph  Yaughn  and  his  band  and  taken  to  Missouri  and 
sold  into  slavery.  Yaughn  was  a great  outlaw,  and  when 
it  became  known  that  the  children  had  been  run  off  and 
sold  into  slavery,  the  better  citizens  of  Pope  county  re- 
solved to  secure  their  return  at  any  cost,  and  Dr.  William 
Sim,  Maj.  John  Eaum,  Judge  Wesley  Sloan  and  Philip 
Vineyard  offered  a reward  of  $500  for  their  apprehension. 


344 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


William  Rhodes,  sheriff  of  the  county,  volunteered  to  go 
in  search  of  the  children,  whom  he  found  in  Missouri* 
and  returned  them  to  their  parents.  Yaughn  was  afterward 
indicted  for  the  offense,  but  he  endeavored  to  shift  the 
responsibility  upon  certain  members  of  his  gang,  who 
retaliated  by  poisoning  him,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
died.  The  prejudice  against  persons  befriending  colored 
people  was  not  so  great  in  Pope  county  then  as  in  some 
other  localities  of  the  State,  and  Mr.  Rhodes  was  elected 
the  same  year  as  a Representative  to  the  Fifteenth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  from  the  counties  of  Pope  and  Hardin ; he 
died  January  4,  1847,  while  a member,  and  was  buried  at 
Springfield.  Mr,  Dobbs  died  the  latter  part  of  1847,  and 
willed  his  entire  property  to  the  colored  people  to  whom 
he  had  vouchsafed  the  boon  of  liberty. 


Tribulations  of  Free  Negroes. 


The  public  records  of  Illinois  show  many  curious  things 
regarding  the  treatment  of  free  colored  persons,  before 
the  emancipation  of  slavery.  We  obtained  the  following 
from  the  record  kept  by  John  Raum,  Probate  Judge  of 


Pope  county: 


“ STATE  OF  ILLINOIS, 
“ Pope  County. 


“The  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  the  sheriff  of 
said  county,  greeting:  We  command  you  to  receive  the 
body  of  Ned  Wright,  a negro,  who  has  been  brought  be- 
fore me,  and  on  being  examined  is  not  found  to  have 
free  papers ; he  is,  therefore,  committed  to  your  charge, 
to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law. 

“ Given  under  my  hand  and  seal,  this  19th  day  of 
April,  A.  D.  1847. 

“ John  Raum,  P.  J.  P.  Co.  (Seal.)” 


This  is  only  one  of  hundreds  of  a similar  character 
found  upon  that  record.  In  order  that  our  readers  may 


understand  the  purport  of  this  order,  we  copy  from  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  1845,  page  388,  Chapter  74*  Section 
5,  of  the  law  governing  such  proceedings: 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


845 


“ Section  5.  Every  black  or  mulatto  person  who  shall 
be  found  in  this  State,  and  not  having  such  a certificate 
as  is  required  by  this  chapter,  shall  be  deemed  a runaway 
slave  or  servant,  and  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  inhabitant 
of  this  State  to  take  such  black  or  mulatto  person  before 
some  justice  of  the  peace,  and  should  such  black  or  mu- 
latto person  not  produce  such  certificate  as  aforesaid,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  such  justice  to  cause  such  black  or 
mulatto  person  to  be  committed  to  the  custody  of  the 
sheriff  of  the  county,  who  shall  keep  such  black  or  mu- 
latto person,  and  in  three  days  after  receiving  him  shall 
advertise  him,  at  the  court  house  door,  and  shall  transmit 
a notice,  and  cause  the  same  to  be  advertised  for  six 
weeks  in  some  public  newspaper  printed  nearest  to  the 
place  of  apprehending  such  black  person  or  mulatto, 
stating  a description  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
the  supposed  runaway,  and  if  such  person  so  committed 
shall  not  produce  a certificate  or  other  evidence  of  his  free- 
dom, within  the  time  aforesaid,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
sheriff  to  hire  him  out  for  the  best  price  he  can  get,  after 
having  given  five  days’  previous  notice  thereof,  from  month 
to  month,  for  the  space  of  one  year;  and  if  no  owner 
shall  appear  to  substantiate  his  claim  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year,  the  sheriff  shall  give  a certificate  to  such 
black  or  mulatto  person,  who,  on  producing  the  same  to 
the  next  circuit  court  of  the  county,  may  obtain  a cer- 
tificate from  the  court,  stating  the  facts,  and  the  person 
shall  be  deemed  a free  person,  unless  he  shall  be  lawfully 
claimed  by  his  proper  owner  or  owners  thereafter.  And 
as  a reward  to  the  taker  up  of  such  negro,  there  shall  be 
paid  by  the  owner,  if  any,  before  he  shall  receive  him 
from  the  sheriff,  ten  dollars,  and  the  owner  shall  pay  to 
the  sheriff  for  the  justice  two  dollars,  and  reasonable 
costs  for  taking  such  runaway  to  the  sheriff,  and  also 
pay  the  sheriff  all  fees  4or  keeping  such  runaway,  as 
other  prisoners : Provided , however , that  the  proper  owner, 
if  any  there  be,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  hire  of  any 
such  runaway  from  the  sheriff,  after  deducting  the  ex- 
penses of  the  same  : And , provided  also , that  the  taker-up 
shall  have  a right  to  claim  any  reward  which  the  owner 
shall  have  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  such  runaway. 
Should  any  taker-up  claim  any  such  offered  reward,  he 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  the  allowance  made  by  this  sec- 
tion.” 


346 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


It  will  be  observed  that,  after  all  this  circumlocution, 
there  was  nothing  in  the  certificate  of  freedom.  But  lest 
some  of  our  readers  should  be  curious  to  know  how  a 
negro  became  free  at  all,  we  will  say  that  there  were  not 
infrequently  persons  in  the  slave  States  who,  becoming 
convinced  of  the  injustice  and  wickedness  of  the  institu- 
tion, would  manumit  their  slaves,  but  the  laws  of  the 
slave  States  required  the  owner  to  remove  them  to  the 
free  States.  Sometimes,  as  was  the  case  with  Gov.  Coles, 
the  owner  would  buy  homes  for  his  slaves  and  become 
their  bondsman.  In  this  way  many  freedmen  became 
residents  of  the  several  free  States,  and  naturally  migra- 
ted from  one  free  State  to  another,  believing  that  they 
had  a right  so  to  do,  but  the  police  regulations  were  so 
unjust  and  arbitrary  in  Illinois,  that  they  experienced  great 
trouble  in  establishing  a residence  in  the  State;  and  it 
was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  such  persons  to  be  kid- 
napped and  sold  into  slavery,  nothwithstanding  they  might 
have  had  their  certificates  of  freedom,  for  they  had  no 
redress  in  the  courts. 

A Free  Boy’s  Experience. 

In  1859,  a colored  boy,  who  had  been  born  in  Ohio, 
wandered  into  Illinois  with  the  hope  of  bettering  his  con- 
dition financially,  but  not  finding  in  the  broad  prairie 
State  what  had  been  pictured  to  him,  he  bent  his  way  to 
St.  Louis,  unmindful  that  the  laws  of  Missouri  were  un- 

0 

friendly  to  his  race.  But  he  had  hardly  set  foot  in  that 
city  before  he  was  arrested  and  taken  before  an  officer, 
who  sentenced  him  to  receive  “500  lashes  for  being  a 
free-born  negro  in  the  State  without  a pass.”  Just  as  he 
was  being  removed  to  the  place  of  punishment,  Captain 
George  Stackpole,  a steamboatman  of  Cincinnati,  entered 
the  court  room  and  demanded  the  release  of  the  boy  on 
the  pretext  that  he  was  an  employe  of  his  boat.  The 
word  “ lashes  ” the  boy  had  not  heard  when  his  sentence 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


347 


was  pronounced,  and  did  not  understand  what  was  to  be 
done  with  him  until  told  by  his  deliverer,  who  had  known 
him  in  Ohio.  The  boy  little  knew  that  while  he  had  so 
narrowly  escaped  a vile  punishment  in  Missouri,  in  free 
Illinois  he  had  been  but  little  better  off.  That  boy’s  name 
was  Joseph  Pleasant,  and  our  informant  says  he  is  now 
an  industrious  citizen  of  Peoria. 

Last  Attempt  to  Return  a Slave. 

About  the  last  effort  to  return  a slave  from  this  State 
io  his  master,  under  the  fugitive  slave  law,  was  made  at 
Shawneetown  in  the  latter  part  of  1862.  It  was  reported 
that  there  was  a fugitive  from  labor  harbored  at  the  house 
of  Stephen  R.  Rowan,  a prominent  citizen,  but  who  was 
then  known  as  a Black  Republican,  whereupon  a few  pro- 
slavery men  were  called  together  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining upon  measures  for  the  return  of  the  fugitive  at  any 
cost.  At  that  time  the  Confederates  had  possession  of  that 
part  of  Kentucky  near  Shawneetown,  and  frequent  threats 
had  been  made  to  sack  and  burn  the  town.  Under  these 
circumstances,  this  meeting  was  not  altogether  harmoni- 
ous, there  being  one  spirit  among  the  number  bold  enough 
to  protest  against  the  return  of  the  slave,  and  strong 
enough  to  deter  the  others  from  molesting  Mr.  Rowan  in 
the  possession  of  the  supposed  fugitive  slave. 

Trials  of  Contrabands. 

The  reader  has  been  made  aware  that  prior  to  the 
emancipation  proclamation  colored  persons  could  not  per- 
manently settle  in  Illinois  without  first  giving  bond  that 
they  would  not  become  charges  upon  the  State.  Here  is, 
perhaps,  the  last  instrument  of  the  kind  executed  in  Illi- 
nois. It  was  made  at  the  time  slaves  were  known  as 
“contrabands  of  war,”  and  the  colored  person  in  question 
was  brought  from  Cairo  to  Shawneetown  to  be  employed 
in  the  family  of  her  bondsman,  as  a servant : 


348 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  we,  Caroline 
Sanders  and  James  B.  Turner,  of  Shawneetown,  Illinois, 
are  held  and  firmly  bound  unto  the  People  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  for  the  use  of  Gallatin  county,  in  the  sum  of 
one  thousand  dollars,  good  and  lawful  money  of  the 
United  States,  to  be  paid  to  said  State  for  the  use  of  said 
county,  to  which  payment  well  and  truly  to  be  made  we 
bind  ourselves,  our  heirs  and  administrators  firmly  by 
these  presents.  Sealed  with  our  seals,  and  dated  this  1st 
day  of  September,  1862. 

“The  condition  of  this  is  such,  that  whereas,  the  above 
bounden  Caroline  Sanders  is  a free  person  of  color,  at 
least  she  asserts  herself  to  be  free,  and  is  desirous  of 
settling  in  Gallatin  county,  Illinois : Now  if  the  said  Car- 
oline Sanders  shall  not  at  any  time  become  a charge  to 
said  county,  or  to  any  other  county  in  the  State,  as  a 
poor  person,  and  shall  at  all  times  demean  herself  in 
strict  conformity  of  the  laws  now  enacted  and  that  may 
hereafter  be  enacted  in  this  State,  then  this  obligation  to 
be  void,  otherwise  to  be  and  remain  in  full  force  and 
effect. 

her 

“Caroline  x Sanders,  (seal.) 

mark. 

“James  B.  Turner,  (seal.) 

“ Signed  and  sealed  in  the  presence  of 

“Mary  A.  Richeson.” 

“State  of  Illinois,  ) 

Gallatin  County,  f ' 

“ I,  Silas  Cook,  county  clerk  of  the  county  and  State  afore- 
said, do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  and  foregoing  is  a 
true  and  correct  copy  of  the  original  bond  now  on  file  in 
my  office.  Given  under  my  hand  and  official  seal,  this 
20th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1883. 

“ Silas  Cook, 

“County  Clerk.” 

Many  of  our  readers  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the 
prejudice  of  the  times  was  so  great  against  the  mere  idea 
of  taking  slave  property  under  any  circumstances,  as  to 
compel  the  return  of  this  contraband  to  the  official  from 
whom  she  was  received. 

Another  case,  something  similar  in  character,  occurred 
at  Harrisburg,  Saline  county,  in  the  same  year.  Dr. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


349 


John  W.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  earliest  Eepnblicans  in  the 
State,  had  brought  two  families  of  contrabands  from 
Cairo,  and  put  them  upon  his  farm,  a few  miles  distant 
from  Harrisburg.  They  had  hardly  located  in  their  new 
home  before  the  news  spread  like  wild-fire  among  the  pro- 
slavery  men,  “that  the  laws  of  Illinois  were  being  set  at 
defiance  by  the  introduction  of  negroes  into  the  county,” 
and  a large  mass-meeting  was  soon  held  at  the  court 
house  in  Harrisburg,  to  cause  their  removal.  Several 
violent  speeches  were  made,  in  which  Dr.  Mitchell  was 
bitterly  denounced,  and  resolutions  were  passed  strongly 
condemning  him  for  bringing  the  contrabands  into  the 
community,  and  a committee  was  appointed  to  notify  him 
to  return  them  to  Cairo  within  a given  time,  or  suffer  the 
consequences.  In  the  meantime,  Mitchell,  being  advised 
of  the  action  of  the  meeting,  had  taken  the  precaution  to 
prepare  himself  for  any  emergency,  which,  coming  to  the 
ears  of  the  committee,  they  refrained  from  carrying  out 
the  instructions  of  the  meeting.  As  the  contrabands  were 
not  removed,  a second  meeting  was  held — and  a similar 
performance  gone  through  with — and  the  threat  was  boldly 
made  that  if  Mitchell  did  not  return  the  contrabands  his 
life  and  property  would  be  destroyed.  But  time  passed, 
and  Mitchell  bravely  stood  his  ground.  This  second  fail- 
ure to  drive  him  into  measures  caused  better  counsels  to 
prevail,  and  when  the  Circuit  Court  convened  he  was 
simply  indicted  under  the  “ black  laws”  of  the  State; 
and  that  indictment  remained  upon  the  records  of  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Saline  county  long  after  the  war,  not- 
withstanding the  repeal  of  the  black  laws  in  1865.  In 
fact  it  was  not  disposed  of  until  the  present  State  Con- 
stitution, which  omitted  the  word  “white,”  came  into 
effect,  when  it  was  stricken  from  the  docket.  We  appre- 
hend that  many  of  the  persons  who  took  part  in  the 


350 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ill-advised  proceedings  would  be  ashamed  to  see  their  names 
in  these  pages,  and  we  therefore  spare  them  that  mortifi- 
cation. But  such  is  history. 

Mobbed  on  Account  of  His  Vote. 

The  intolerance  of  certain  pro-slavery  men  in  the  south 
part  of  the  State  was  very  great  during  the  war,  and  they 
therefore  committed  many  acts  of  folly.  In  the  proposed 
Constitution,  which  was  formed  in  1862,  was  an  Article 
which  prohibited  the  emigration  of  free  negroes  or  mu- 
lattoes  into  the  State.  It  was  submitted  to  a separate 
vote  of  the  people.  Bev.  W.  V.  Eldridge,  of  Golconda, 
cast  the  only  vote  polled  in  Pope  county  against  this 
Article.  This  greatly  incensed  his  pro-slavery  neighbors, 
and  on  the  following  Sunday  they  assembled  in  the  form 
of  a mob  at  a church  in  the  country,  where  Eldridge  had 
an  appointment,  and  attempted  to  prevent  him  from 
preaching;  but  the  men  and  women  of  his  congregation 
rallied  to  his  support,  and  put  the  mob  to  flight.  But  a 
marvelous  change  in  political  sentiment  has  taken  place 
in  that  community.  Mr.  Eldridge  has  had  the  honor  to 
represent  the  district  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  at 
this  time  is  County  Judge  of  Pope  county. 

First  Colored  School. 

The  first  attempt  to  establish  a school  for  colored  chil- 
dren in  this  State  was  made  at  Shawneetown,  after  the 
proclamation  of  freedom,  by  Miss  Sarah  Curtis,  of  Evans- 
ville, Ind.  After  a hard  struggle  she  obtained  a small 
room  in  which  to  open  her  school,  and  for  a time  she 
taught  with  great  energy  and  apparent  satisfaction,  but 
she  was  so  ostracised  by  white  women  that  after  a few 
months  she  gave  up  the  work  in  utter  disgust,  and  re- 
turned to  her  former  home. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  351 

Blood-Hounds. 

Many  of  our  readers  will  learn  with  surprise  that  before 
the  war  colored  men,  attempting  to  escape  into  free  ter- 
ritory, were  hunted  down  by  the  aid  of  blood-hounds ; but 
such  is  the  fact.  William  Belford,  of  Golconda,  was  one 
of  many  men,  in  Illinois,  who  made  their  living  by  catch- 
ing and  returning  runaway  slaves.  He  kept  a favorite 
blood-hound  for  this  purpose,  and  was  often  seen  upon 
the  highway,  on  horseback,  with  it  sitting  in  his  lap.  It 
is  said  by  those  who  knew  him  well,  that  he  thought  more 
of  this  hound  than  he  did  of  his  own  children.  During 
the  war  he  was,  naturally,  a violent  rebel,  and  was  often 
embroiled  in  quarrels  with  his  neighbors,  in  regard  to  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  as  waged  by  the  National  authorities, 
and  in  one  of  these  met  his  death,  at  the  hands  of  Wm. 
Whiteside,  of  Golconda,  in  1864. 

Colored  Jurors. 

It  has  been  a difficult  matter  for  the  white  people  along 
the  Ohio  river  to  overcome  their  prejudice  against  allow- 
ing colored  people  equal  civil  rights  with  themselves.  As 
late  as  1880,  James  A.  Rose,  County  Attorney  of  Pope 
county,  was  assaulted  in  the  streets  of  Golconda,  for 
allowing  a colored  person  to  sit  on  a jury.  The  person 
who  assailed  him  was  one  of  the  jurors,  and  was  not 
aware  that  a colored  man  had  sat  with  him  until  after 
the  case  had  been  decided  and  the  jury  discharged.  The 
colored  juror  was  a bright  mulatto,  and  had  not  infre- 
quently been  mistaken  for  a white  man. 

Adoption  of  Amendments. 

The  Thirteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  declared  that  “neither  slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a punishment  for  crime, 


352 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall 
.exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction,,,  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  Illi- 
nois, February  1,  1865,  being  the  first  State  to  ratify  it. 

The  Fourteenth  amendment,  which  guaranteed  to  the 
.colored  man  citizenship,  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature 
of  Illinois,  January  15,  1867. 

The  Fifteenth  amendment,  which  enfranchised  the  col- 
ored race,  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  Illinois, 
March  5,  1869. 

The  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870  framed  the  State 
Constitution  so  as  to  conform  to  these  amendments. 

First  Colored  Vote  Cast  in  Cairo. 

At  the  first  election  in  Cairo  after  the  enfranchisement  of 
colored  men,  Patrick  Kelly,  an  Irishman,  armed  himself 
and  declared  that  he  would  shoot  the  first  “nigger”  who 
attempted  to  vote  in  his  ward,  which  was  largely  inhab- 
ited by  colored  people.  As  a matter  of  course,  the  colored 
men  were  anxious  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage,  and 
had  assembled  in  large  numbers  at  the  polls;  but  hours 
passed,  and  yet  nobody  seemed  willing  to  dispute  the 
authority  of  Kelly,  until  Col.  W.  R.  Brown,  of  Metropolis, 
then  on  duty  in  the  collector’s  office  at  Cairo,  asked  P. 
H.  Pope  to  select  for  him  a colored  man  whom  he  knew 
to  be  a citizen  and  entitled  to  vote,  and  he  would  see  that 
he  voted.  John  Evans  was  selected,  and  Mr.  Brown 
marched  him  to  the  polls,  and  his  ballot  was  recorded 
without  interference  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Kelly.  This  was 
taken  as  the  signal  for  a general  rush  to  the  polls,  and 
many  colored  men  voted  in  rapid  succession  without 
the  slightest  objection  by  anybody,  when  Kelly  walked 
,away  in  utter  disgust,  uttering  words  of  execration  upon 
.the  “d — d nigger  government.” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


353 


We  have  been  induced  to  speak  of  such  incidents  as 
are  here  recorded  to  show  how  deeply  seated  were  the 
prejudices  of  the  people  of  Illinois  against  the  intellectual 
or  political  advancement  of  the  colored  race. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

GREAT  FIRE  IN  CHICAGO. 

We  have  not  before  spoken  of  the  great  fire  in  Chi- 
cago, in  1871,  as  its  magnitude  demands.  It  occurred 
on  the  night  of  October  8th,  and  did  not  spend  its 
force  until  the  afternoon  of  the  9th,  when  it  had  laid 
in  ashes  the  principal  portion  of  the  city, — the  post- 
office,  custom  house,  court  house,  school  buildings, 
churches,  hotels,  railroad  depots,  great  business  stores, 
banking  houses, newspaper  offices, foundries,  and  machine 
shops, — thus  paralyzing  every  vital  interest  and  de- 
stroying more  than  $300,000,000  in  public  and  private 
property;  depriving  the  city  of  water,  gas,  bridges  and 
telegraph  communication,  and  leaving  more  than  a hun- 
dred thousand  of  its  inhabitants  without  food  or  shelter. 
No  such  fire  has  prevailed  since  1666,  which  devastated 
London.  The  fire  commenced  near  the  corner  of  Jeffer- 
son and  De  Koven  streets,  at  about  11  o’clock  at 
night,  among  the  wooden  buildings.  A strong  wind 
was  blowing  from  the  southwest,  and  in  a moment  of 
time  the  flames  spread  so  rapidly  as  to  baffle  the  power 
of  the  fire  department,  and  thousands  of  citizens  were 
driven  from  their  homes  in  the  dead  hour  of  night, 
never  to  see  them  again,  and  many  of  them  were  be- 
reft of  every  earthly  possession.  Helpless  women  and 
children  lined  every  avenue.  When  the  business  por- 
—23 


354  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

tion  of  the  city  was  reached,  the  massive  iron  and  stone 
fronts  crumbled  in  the  pathway  of  the  destroying  ele- 
ment, as  though  they  had  been  but  tinder-boxes, 
leaving  only  a mass  of  smoldering  ruins,  and  what  was 
but  a few  hours  before  a great  and  busy  city  was  a 
barren  waste,  and  bleeding  hearts  confronted  you  on 
every  hand.  But  sudden  as  was  the  calamity  to  Chi- 
cago, and  great  as  were  the  demands  of  the  stricken 
citizens,  the  people  all  over  the  country  were  as  quick 
to  respond  to  their  call  for  help,  and  even  Europe  sent 
her  contributions  with  a generosity  that  kindled  afresh 
the  ties  of  friendship  between  the  old  and  new  world. 
Governor  Palmer  met  the  emergency  with  a prompt- 
ness that  marked  him  as  a man  equal  to  any  trial; 
he  sent  food  by  the  car  load,  cared  for  the  subjects  of 
public  charity,  called  the  military  of  the  State  to  the 
assistance  of  the  mayor,  that  he  might  protect  the 
people  from  the  power  of  the  lawless;  he  visited  the 
scene  of  the  disaster  in  person,  and  called  the  Legisla- 
ture together  by  telegraph,  and  at  his  request  the 
body  went  to  Chicago  that  they  might  know  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  calamity  which  had  visited  that  people, 
so  as  to  enable  them  to  act  intelligently  upon  meas- 
ures of  relief. 

But  under  the  constitution  of  1870,  no  municipal 
corporation  could  become  indebted  in  any  manner  for 
any  purpose  to  an  amount,  including  existing  indebt- 
edness in  the  aggregate,  exceeding  five  per  centum  of 
the  value  of  the  taxable  property  therein,  and  the  State 
was  restricted  by  section  five  of  article  four  of  the  con- 
stitution from  making  an  appropriation  in  excess  of 
$250,000,  unless  it  was  submitted  to  a vote  of  the 
people.  Here  arose  a great  legal  question,  how  to  ap- 
propriate the  money  necessary  to  afford  Chicago  re- 
lief, and  yet  not  violate  the  constitution.  On  the  16th 
of  October,  the  Governor  addressed  a message  to  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


355 


Senate  and  House  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  dis- 
cussed the  question  in  all  its  legal  bearings,  and  as- 
sumed that  the  Legislature  possessed  the  power  to 
make  such  appropriation  as  in  its  judgment  might 
seem  necessary,  without  referring  the  matter  to  a vote 
of  the  people.  Addressing  himself  as  to  the  duty  of 
the  State  regarding  the  needs  of  Chicago  he  said: 

“They  need  no  loans  or  gifts  from  the  United  States 
or  the  State  of  Illinois ; and,  unless  I greatly  mistake 
them,  they  will  ask  no  more  than  that  the  State  shall 
assume  the  discharge  of  its  own  proper  duties,  and 
relieve  them  from  burdens — that,  from  their  peculiar 
situation,  were  always  heavy,  but  have  been  cheerfully 
borne — so  that  they  may  be  left  to  apply  all  their  re- 
sources to  their  own  great  task.  It  is  primarily  the 
duty  of  the  State  to  provide  for  the  poor,  the  blind, 
the  insane,  and  all  other  helpless  classes,  and  for  the 
enforcement  of  its  laws  everywhere  within  its  limits. 
It  is  also  its  duty  to  provide  for  the  construction  of 
highways,  building  bridges,  and  the  support  of  schools. 
The  State  of  Illinois  has  always  recognized  the  obliga- 
tion of  these  duties,  and  for  the  more  convenient  per- 
formance of  many  of  them,  counties,  townships,  cities, 
towns  and  other  organizations  have  been  established 
by  law.  They  are  but  parts  - of  the  machinery  em- 
ployed in  carrying  on  the  affairs  of  the  State,  and  the 
authority  and  the  duties  of  each  are  confined  to  cer- 
tain well-defined  territorial  as  well  as  legal  boundaries, 
that  may  be  modified  or  destroyed,  as  the  exigencies 
of  the  public  may  demand.  And  whenever,  from  any 
cause,  any  of  these  agencies  become  unequal  to  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  them,  or  the  public 
duties  imposed  upon  them  become  too  burdensome  or 
oppressive  to  the  people  embraced  within  their  limits, 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  provide  other  means  for 
their  performance.  It  is  a fact  that  requires  no  proof, 
that  the  county  of  Cook  and  the  city  of  Chicago,  two* 
of  the  most  important  of  the  classes  of  public  agencies 
to  which  they  respectively  belong,  are,  from  causes 
that  are  well  understood,  unable  to  continue  the  full 
discharge  of  all  the  duties  that  were  imposed  upon 
them.  From  an  inevitable  accident, 'their  resources  are 


356 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


diminished  and  their  local  burdens  vastly  increased, 
so  that  they  are  no  longer  available  to  the  State  as 
governmental  agencies  for  all  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  created,  and  it  follows,  from  that  fact,  that 
do  the  extent  that  the  requirements  of  such  duties  are 
in  excess  of  the  legal  resources  of  the  county  and  city, 
such  duties  must  be  resumed  by  the  State,  and  the 
General  Assembly  must  devise  other  methods  for  their 
performance.” 

The  concluding  portion  of  his  message,  on  the  power 
of  the  Legislature  to  appropriate  money  to  meet  the 
emergency,  closed  with  these  unequivocal  and  forcible 
words : 

“It  was  not  the  purpose  of  the  framers  of  the  con- 
stitution to  deprive  the  State  of  the  power  to  dis- 
charge its  vital  and  essential  functions,  as  the  narrow 
interpretation  of  the  constitution  I am  disputing  un- 
doubtedly does;  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case  of 
the  city  of  Chicago,  now  under  consideration,  serves 
all  the  purposes  of  the  most  complete  and  satisfactory 
illustration.  In  that  city,  within  a few  hours,  many 
millions  of  property  was  suddenly  destroyed;  nearly 
or  quite  one  hundred  thousand  of  its  inhabitants  de- 
prived of  food  and  shelter ; the  ordinary  agencies 
created  by  the  State  were,  by  the  same  overwhelming 
calamity,  deprived  of  their  power  and  resources,  and 
were  helpless  to  feed  or  shelter  them.  The  Legislature 
of  the  State  w^as  convened  by  the  Governor ; they  find 
the  moneys  in  the  treasury  inadequate  to  meet  the 
demands  upon  the  State,  but  its  credit  is  practically 
limitless,  and  the  means  to  feed  and  give  protection  to 
the  hungry  multitude  abound  on  every  hand. 

“The-  General  Assembly  cannot,  as  is  claimed,  draw 
upon  the  resources  of  the  State,  or  anticipate  its  rev- 
enue beyond  an  amount  limited  — not  by  the  urgency 
of  its  duties,  but  by  certain  technical  words  contained 
in  the  constitution.  If  this  is  the  proper  conclusion, 
and  the  people  were  not  otherwise  relieved,  one  of  the 
conditions  upon  which  the  power  to  contract  debts  is 
said  to  depend,  would  be  soon  supplied,  for  the  crav- 
ings of  hunger  will  madden  any  population  on  earth 
to  the  point  of  insurrection. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


357 


“It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  State  of  Illinoit 
is  so  far  independent  of  all  other  governments  that  is 
must  at  all  times  be  equal  to  the  perfect  discharge  of 
its  own  obligations.  It  cannot  rely  upon  the  volun- 
tary charities  of  the  benevolent  to  feed  or  give  shelter 
to  its  destitute  population,  without  at  the  same  time 
ceasing  to  exist. 

“It  cannot  and  has  not  abdicated  the  most  essen- 
tial function  of  its  existence,  of  raising  all  moneys  re- 
quired for  the  discharge  of  its  most  important  duties, 
by  regular  modes,  for  the  safety  of  all  the  interests  of 
the  people  forbid  it.  To  claim  that  the  people  of  the 
State  have  locked  up  their  property  so  it  cannot  be 
reached  by  constitutional  methods,  to  be  used  for  the 
most  urgent  purposes  of  government  and  discharge 
the  highest  social  obligations,  is  not  only  to  do  in- 
justice to  their  character  for  humanity,  but  to  their 
intelligence  and  discernment;  for  the  power  to  raise 
money  to  meet  great  and  sudden  emergencies  in  the 
affairs  of  State,  is  essential  to  their  existence. 

“Entertaining  these  views  of  the  proper  construction 
of  the  language  of  the  proviso  of  the  18th  section  of 
the  4th  article  of  the  constitution,  I feel  no  hesitation 
in  recommending  that  if  that  course  is  deemed  by  the 
General  Assembly  most  judicious,  that  the  amount 
necessary  to  meet  the  urgent  demands  upon  the  re- 
sources of  the  State  be  borrowed,  and  at  the  same 
time  provision  be  made  for  its  early  and  prompt  re- 
payment. ” 

In  1865,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  authorizing 
the  city  of  Chicago  to  widen  and  deepen  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  Canal,  limiting  the  expenditure  to 
$2,500,000,  which  was  to  be  repaid  to  the  city  with 
interest.  This  claim  was  taken  as  the  basis  of  an  ap- 
propriation, which  was  deemed  adequate  to  the  emer- 
gency, and  the  General  Assembly  passed  a bill 
appropriating  $2,955,340,  which  covered  the  principal 
and  interest  of  the  amount  expended  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  canal.  It  received  the  signature  of  the 
Governor  on  the  19th  of  October,  when  the  money  be- 
came available  for  the  relief  of  the  people  and  con- 


358 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


tinuing  the  government  intact;  and  on  the  21st  of 
October,  the  Legislature,  after  a session  of  eight  days, 
and  after  doing  everything  in  its  power  for  the  relief 
of  Chicago,  adjourned  sine  die. 

As  a further  act  of  relief,  on  April  5,  1872,  the  Pres- 
ident approved  an  act  of  Congress  which  provided 
that  all  goods,  wares  and  merchandise  sent  from  places 
without  the  United  States  for  the  relief  of  the  Chicago 
sufferers  should  be  admitted  free  of  duty,  and  that 
there  should  be  allowed  and  paid  on  all  materials,  ex- 
cept lumber,  used  in  buildings  erected  on  the  sites  of 
buildings  burned,  a drawback  of  the  import  duties, 
provided  they  were  imported  and  used  during  the 
term  of  one  year  after  the  passage  of  the  act,  and  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  was  authorized  to 
suspend  the  collection  of  taxes  in  the  First  collection 
district  from  the  9th  of  October,  1871,  until  the  next 
regular  session  of  Congress. 

The  rebuilding  of  Chicago  was  as  marvelous  as  the 
tire  was  destructive.  The  ruins  were  displaced  within 
two  years,  and  massive  buildings,  better  than  those 
which  had  melted  away  before  the  fire,  lined  the  ave- 
nues, and  people  from  everywhere  united  their  fortunes 
with  the  city  that  had  risen,  phoenix-like,  from  the  ashes, 
and  in  1880  the  census  of  the  United  States  showed  a 
population  of  503,185  as  against  298,977,  of  the  cen- 
sus of  1870.  No  such  growth  in  a city  in  so  short  a 
period  has  ever  been  exhibited  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances,  nor  has  the  energy  of  the  people 
ever  been  surpassed,  if  equalled,  by  any  city  on  the 
globe.  With  all  her  difficulties,  of  whatever  character, 
Chicago  has  continued  to  steadily  magnify  her  power, 
and  has,  within  a few  years  past,  erected  some  of  the 
most  magnificent  structures  ever  conceived  by  the 
genius  of  man,  many  of  which  range  from  eight  to 
twelve  stories;  and  it  is  estimated  by  those  whose 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


359 


observation  is  entitled  to  credit,  that  the  census  of  the 
United  States  for  1890,  will  show  a population  for  Chi- 
cago of  quite  900,000. 

In  this  connection  we  would  be  doing  injustice  to 
history  and  the  readers  of  these  pages,  were  we  to  re- 
frain from  referring  to  the  conflict  which  arose  be- 
tween Gov.  Palmer  and  Gen.  Sheridan,  after  the  fire,  by 
reason  of  the  occupation  of  Chicago  by  United  States 
Infantry,  as  a police  force.  Gen.  Sheridan  was  then 
Lieutenant-General,  commanding  the  military  division 
of  the  Missouri,  with  headquarters  at  Chicago.  Although 
Gov.  Palmer  had  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Mayor 
a military  force  which  he  believed  ample  to  preserve 
the  peace,  under  the  command  of  Col.  H.  Dilger,  his 
Adjutant-General,  an  old  soldier,  who  had  served  under 
his  eye  in  the  field,  a man  in  whom  he  had  the  utmost 
confidence,  and  whom  he  recommended  as  one  who 
would  preserve  order  at  all  hazards,  the  Mayor  disre- 
garded the  authority  of  the  Governor,  and  invited  the 
aid  of  the  United  States  army.  The  official  dispatch 
of  the  Governor  to  the  Mayor  was  as  follows: 

State  of  Illinois,  Executive  Department, 
Springfield,  October  10,  1871. 

Col.  R.  B.  Mason: 

Dear  Sir— Col.  H.  Dilger,  Adjutant- General,  will  leave  here  this  evening 
with  one  company  o£  militia  and  one  thousand  muskets.  He  will  also,  after 
reporting  to  you,  organize  for  the  preservation  of  order  in  your  city.  Col. 
Dilger  is  an  old  soldier,  has  served  under  my  eye,  on  the  field,  and  will  pre- 
serve order  at  all  hazards.  He  has  orders  to  enforce  law,  and  has  muskets 
enough  to  do  it  effectually.  Respectfully, 

John  M.  Palmer. 

But  Mayor  Mason  did  not  seem  willing  to  trust  the 
military  arm  of  the  State,  and,  overlooking  the  pro- 
visions of  both  the  State  and  National  constitutions 
upon  the  subject,  he  issued,  on  the  11th  day  of  October, 
a proclamation  in  which  he  entrusted  the  preservation 
of  the  good  order  and  peace  of  the  city  to  Lieut.-Gen. 
P.  H.  Sheridan,  under  whose  authority  he  directed 
the  police  of  the  city  to  act.  On  the  same  day 
Gen.  Sheridan  issued  an  order  organizing  a regiment 
of  volunteer  soldiers  to  serve  for  a period  of  twenty 


360 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


days,  and  another  order  calling*  ten  companies  of 
United  States  infantry  to  the  city,  and  with  this  force 
he  exercised  military  control  over  the  city  until  the 
24th  of  October,  when,  at  the  request  of  the  Mayor, 
he  relinquished  his  authority,  and  mustered  out  of  the 
service  the  volunteer  regiment,  and  ordered  the  ten 
companies  of  United  States  infantry  to  their  respective 
stations,  namely,  Louisville,  Ky.;  Fort  Leavenworth 
and  Omaha.  But  on  the  28th  of  October,  the  in- 
coming Mayor,  Joseph  Medill,  and  ten  prominent  citi- 
zens, namely,  Wirt  Dexter,  W.  F.  Coolbaugh,  H.  K. 
Eames,  F.  Irving  Pearce,  C.  H.  Beckwith  & Sons,  J. 
W.  Preston,  Chas.  Randolph,  E.  Hengerland,  Horace 
White  and  Chas.  L.  Wilson,  made  a formal  request  to 
Lient.-Gen.  Sheridan  for  the  stationing  of  four  com- 
panies of  United  States  infantry  at  or  near  the  city, 
until  the  danger  of  attack  by  disorderly  persons  upon 
the  depots  of  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society  had  passed. 
The  request  was  referred  by  Sheridan  to  the  Adjutant 
General  of  the  United  States  Army,  at  Washington, 
and  on  the  31st  of  October,  W.  T.  Sherman,  General 
of  the  United  States  Army,  ordered  Gen.  George  G. 
Meade,  commanding  at  Philadelphia,  to  send  four  com- 
panies of  the  Eighth  Infantry,  with  field  officers,  to 
report  to  Gen.  Sheridan,  in  person,  to  act  as  a police 
force  in  Chicago.  The  telegram  of  Gen.  Sherman  to 
Gen.  Sheridan,  notifying  him  of  the  action  of  the  War 
Department  in  regard  to  his  request  for  troops,  is  as- 
follow's : 

Headquarters  of  the  Army, 
Washington,  October  31,  1871. 

To  Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan,  Chicago: 

Four  companies  of  the  8th  Infantry  are  ordered  to  Chicago  to  act  as 
police,  under  your  letter  of  the  29th. 

W.  T.  Sherman,  General. 

While  Gen.  Sheridan  was  in  command  at  Chicago,  a 
most  deplorable  accident  occurred.  One  of  the  companies 
raised  by  Col.  Sherman,  under  the  order  of  Gen.  Sher- 
idan, was  composed  entirely  of  students  of  the  Univer- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


361 


sity  of  Chicago,  known  as  Company  L.  It  was  on  duty 
some  three  miles  from  the  burnt  district,  and  on  the 
20th  of  October,  Gen.  Thomas  W.  Grovesnor,  a citi- 
zen of  Chicago,  while  peaceably  passing  along  one  of 
the  public  streets,  in  the  direction  of  his  home,  was 
challenged  by  Theodore  N.  Treat,  a sentry,  and  prob- 
ably being  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  Treat  was  there 
by  authority,  paid  no  attention  to  the  challenge,  when 
he  was  shot  down  and  mortally  wounded.  He  was 
conveyed  to  his  home,  and  after  lingering  a few  hours, 
died.  Gen.  Grovesnor  had  been  a gallant  soldier  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States.  He  had  borne  himself 
bravely  in  battle,  in  Virginia ; was  disabled  by  wounds  re- 
ceived in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  to  die  such  a 
death,  in  the  sight  of  his  home  and  family,  was  a sad 
and  sickening  tragedy. 

Influenced  by  a desire  that  the  majesty  of  the  law 
should  be  preserved,  Gov.  Palmer  directed  that  the 
matter  should  be  investigated  by  the  grand  jury  of 
Cook  county.  In  a letter,  addressed  to  the  State’s 
Attorney,  he  said: 

“The  matter  has  occasioned  me  a great  amount  of 
anxiety.  It  would  simply  be  dishonorable  to  me,  and 
to  the  State,  to  prosecute  this  young  man  Treat  alone 
to  conviction,  when  you  and  others  besides,  who  are 
supposed  to  know  what  the  law  is,  are  bound  to  con- 
fess that  if  he  is  guilty  of  a legal  offense,  so  are  those 
who  placed  him  in  a position  to  do  mischief,  and 
neither  you  nor  the  State  authorities  can  find  a legal 
excuse  for  discharging  Treat  without  trial.  No  course 
is  open  to  us  but  to  boldly  and  squarely  stand  up  to 
the  line  of  duty.  I have  written  this  to  you  because 
I can  well  understand  that  you  may  feel  a degree  of 
hesitation  in  advising  the  grand  jury  to  find  an  indict- 
ment against  such  persons  as  R.  B.  Mason,  P.  H.  Sher- 
idan and  Frank  T.  Sherman;  and  as  this  case  concerns 
the  State  in  its  political  capacity,  as  well  as  in  other 
respects,  I think  it  proper  that  the  Governor  should 
take  the  responsibility  of  what  is  done.  And  while  I 


362 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


have  the  utmost  confidence  in  you,  I do  advise  the  in- 
dictment and  trial  of  all  concerned.” 

These  are  the  words  of  a brave  and  conscientious 
executive.  Painful  as  it  was  to  him  to  direct  the  pros- 
ecution of  Gen.  Sheridan,  Mayor  Mason  and  young 
Treat,  yet  he  was  willing  to  assume  all  the  responsi- 
bility. But  while  it  was  believed  by  many  that  the 
killing  of  Gen.  Grovesnor  was  not  only  unlawful,  but 
unnecessary,  yet  the  grand  jury  failed  to  indict  any 
of  the  parties,  and  thus  ended  the  tragedy. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  provides,  in  Section  4 of  Article  4,  that 
the  United  States  shall  protect  the  States  from  do- 
mestic violence  on  the  application  of  the  Legislature 
or  the  Executive  when  the  Legislature  cannot  be  con- 
vened, the  Governor,  on  the  3d  of  November,  addressed 
a formal  protest  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
against  the  further  use  of  United  States  troops  in 
Chicago.  We  give  the  official  correspondence  between 
the  Governor  and  the  President,  omitting  the  papers 
to  which  each  refer,  because  the  letters  themselves  suffi- 
ciently outline  the  facts  as  to  the  cause  of  difference 
Between  the  two  executives  upon  the  question: 

State  of  Illinois,  Executive  Department, 
Springfield,  November  3,  1871. 

His  Excellency  U.  S.  Grant, 

President  of  the  United  States: 

Sir:  I have  the  honor  to  inclose  to  you  a printed 
slip,  cut  from  the  “Chicago  Journal,”  a highly  re- 
spectable newspaper,  published  in  Chicago,  and  re- 
spectfully ask  your  attention  to  its  contents.  My 
apology  for  troubling  your  Excellency  with  a paper 
of  the  character  of  that  inclosed  is,  that  it  is  stated 
therein  that  “four  companies  of  the  Eighth  United 
States  Infantry  have  been  ordered  from  New  York  to 
Chicago,  and  will  arrive  there  to-morrow  (to-day), 
subject  to  the  call  of  the  authorities,”  and  that  the 
reasons  for  ordering  troops  to  Chicago  are,  that  “the 
large  supplies  the  Relief  Society  will  have  in  store  dur- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


363 


ing  the  winter  were  not  deemed  safe;  besides,  threat- 
ened strikes  in  some  quarters  indicated  that  laborers, 
willing  to  work,  might  not  be  allowed  to  do  so,”  and 
that  an  application,  stating  these  facts,  was  signed 
by  the  officers  of  the  Relief  Society,  and  other  citizens, 
presented  to  Gen.  Sheridan,  and  by  him  approved  and 
referred  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

In  addition  to  this,  rumors  in  the  form  of  telegraphic 
dispatches  from  Washington  and  Chicago  have  reached 
me,  that  troops  were  ordered  to  Chicago  for  purposes 
connected  with  the  safety  of  property  and  the  pres- 
ervation of  order  in  the  city,  but  no  information  of 
the  existence  of  the  dangers  alluded  to  have  reached 
me  from  any  quarter  whatever.  I cheerfully  concede 
that  it  is  for  the  President  to  designate  the  stations 
of  the  troops  composing  the  army,  and  that  he  is 
under  no  obligations,  founded  upon  the  constitution 
or  the  laws,  or  upon  the  rules  of  official  courtesy,  to 
communicate  his  orders,  or  the  reasons  that  influence 
him  in  making  them,  to  the  Governor  of  any  of  the 
States,  unless  the  orders  in  question,  or  the  presence 
of  the  troops,  are  intended  in  some  way  to  affect  or 
influence  the  internal  affairs  of  the  particular  State  to 
which  the  troops  are  sent.  In  the  latter  case,  it  will 
readily  occur  to  you  that  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  enforce  the  laws,  is  deeply  con- 
cerned for  the  troops,  and  the  orders  under  which  they 
are  to  act  may  operate  to  diminish,  or  greatly  in- 
crease the  difficulties  of  his  official  position.  I am 
happy  in  the  consciousness  that  the  authorities  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  are  abundantly  able  to  protect  every 
interest  of  the  people  that  depends  upon  its  internal 
peace  and  good  order,  and  am  unwilling  to  believe 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States,  acting  upon 
information  of  a contrary  character,  communicated 
by  private  citizens  to  an  officer  of  the  army,  has  or- 
dered any  portion  of  the  army  into  this  State,  to  be 
subject  to  the  call  of  the  authorities,  either  to  protect 
the  store-houses  of  the  Relief  Committee,  or  to  inter- 
fere with  the  possible,  though  not  probable,  “ strikes” 
of  laborers. 

I,  therefore,  deem  it  due  to  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  to  frankly  inquire  of  your  Excellency  whether 


364 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  troops  ordered  to  Chicago  are  intended  or  in- 
structed to  obey  the  call  of  any  authorities  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  or  the  city  of  Chicago,  or  in  any  way 
whatever  to  assume  the  protection  either  of  property 
or  the  preservation  of  order  in  that  city? 

I have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  etc., 

John  M.  Palmer. 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  November  9,  1871. 
His  Excellency  J.  M.  Palmer, 

Governor  of  Illinois: 

Sir — I am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  3d  inst., 
inquiring  the  nature  of  the  orders,  etc.,  under  which 
four  companies  of  United  States  troops  have  been 
ordered  to  the  City  of  Chicago,  and  asserting  your 
ability,  as  Executive  officer  of  the  State,  to  furnish  all 
the  protection  asked  in  the  appeal  of  the  citizens  of 
Chicago  from  these  troops. 

In  reply,  I enclose  you  a copy  of  the  appeal,  of  Gen. 
Sheridan’s  remarks  thereon,  of  the  orders  given 
in  sending  the  troops,  and  of  all  correspondence  be- 
tween Gen.  Sheridan  and  the  authorities  here,  since 
the  great  fire,  which  laid  so  much  of  the  wealth  of 
Chicago  in  ashes.  I will  only  add,  further,  that  no 
thought  here  even  contemplated  distrust  of  the  State 
authorities  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  or  lack  of  ability 
on  their  part  to  do  all  that  was  necessary,  or  expected 
of  them,  for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order  within 
the  limits  of  the  State.  The  only  thing  thought  of 
was  how  to  benefit  a people  stricken  by  a calamity 
greater  than  had  ever  befallen  a community  of  the 
same  number  before  in  this  country.  The  aid  was  of 
a like  nature  with  that  given  in  any  emergency  requir- 
ing immediate  action.  No  reflections  were  contemplated 
or  thought  of,  affecting  the  integrity  or  ability  of  any 
State  officer  or  city  official,  within  the  limits  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  to  perform  his  whole  duty.  I have 
the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  Grant. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


365 


State  op  Illinois,  Executive  Department, 
Springfield,  November  20,  1871. 

His  Excellency,  U.  S.  Grant, 

President  United  States: 

Sir:  I have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  9th  of  November,  in  reply  to  mine 
of  the  3d  of  the  same  month,  and  also  the  copies  of 
papers  forwarded  me  by  your  direction. 

I have  read  your  Excellency’s  letter,  and  examined 
the  papers  received  with  great  attention,  and  while  I 
am  not  insensible  of  the  kindness  that  prompts  you 
to  disclaim  all  distrust  of  the  authorities  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  or  of  their  ability  to  do  all  that  may  be 
necessary,  or  expected  of  them  for  the  maintenance  of 
law  and  order  within  the  limits  of  the  State,  I have 
been  unable  to  find  anything  in  them  to  justify  the 
extraordinary  measure  of  ordering  four  companies  of 
United  States  troops  into  this  State  to  report  to  Lieu- 
tenant-General Sheridan,  to  act  as  police  under  his 
orders.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  very  well  settled  as  a 
principle  of  American  public  law,  that  the  duty  of  pro- 
tecting persons  and  property,  and  the  preservation  of 
public  order  and  peace  against  the  efforts  of  disorderly 
persons,  or  from  local  internal  disturbance,  is  the 
peculiar  and  exclusive  duty  of  the  States,  with  which 
the  government  of  the  United  States  has  no  concern, 
and  in  'which  it  cannot  interfere,  except  upon  the  ap- 
plication of  the  Legislatures  or  the  Executives  of  the 
States,  ’ as  contemplated  by  the  4th  section  of  the  4th 
article  of  the  constitution,  and  that  any  attempt  by 
the  officers  of  the  United  States  army  to  employ  any 
part  of  the  military  forces,  as  proposed  by  the  gen- 
tlemen who  made  the  application  for  four  companies 
of  infantry  to  be  stationed  at  or  near  Chicago,  for  an 
indefinite  "period,  and  approved  by  Lieut.-Gen.  Philip* 
H.  Sheridan,  in  his  letter,  to  the  Adjutant-General,  of 
the  29th  of  October,  and  by  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  by 
his  telegraphic  communication  to  Lieut.-Gen.  Sheridan, 
of  October  31st,  1871,  must  be  improper,  because 
violative  of  the  constitution  and  the  laws.  I am  not1 
at  all  forgetful  that  your  Excellency  says  “that  what 
was  done  in  respect  to  ordering  the  troops  to  Chicago, 
was  upon  the  ground  of  emergency,  to  aid  a people 


366 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


who  had  suffered  greatly but,  in  this  view,  it  seems: 
to  me  that  the  General  commanding  the  army  over- 
looked the  fact  that  the  disastrous  fire  at  Chicago  did 
not  relieve  the  State  of  Illinois  from  any  of  its  duties, 
nor  transfer  any  of  them  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  Emergencies  that  demand  extraordi- 
nary efforts  often  occur  in  the  history  of  governments, 
but  I do  not  remember  another  instance  in  our  history, 
when  it  was  held  that  an  event  that  created  a sudden 
demand  upon  the  powers  and  resources  of  a State, 
operated  to  transfer  any  portion  of  the  duties  to  the 
States  of  the  United  States. 

The  great  fire  at  Chicago  ceased  on  the  9th  of 
October,  and  the  Executive  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
under  the  belief  that  the  disaster  created  an  “ emer- 
gency/7 provided  for  by  constitution  of  the  State, 
convened  the  General  Assembly  to  meet  in  session  on 
the  13th  day  of  that  month  to  make  legal  provisions 
to  meet  all  the  requirements  of  the  occasion,  and  on 
the  19th  day  of  October  that  department  appropriated 
from  the  treasury  an  adequate  sum  to  maintain  a 
sufficient  police  force  for  the  protection  of  every  in- 
terest of  the  people.  The  emergency  was  thus  provided 
for  by  the  proper  department  of  the  proper  govern- 
ment, in  the  only  way  that  it  could  be  done,  or  can 
be  done.  The  State  enlarged  and  strengthened  its  own 
agencies  for  the  enforcement  of  its  own  laws,  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  new  situation.  The  same  calam- 
ity deprived  the  United  States  of  its  custom-house,  its 
post-office,  its  court  room  and  records,  and  threw 
upon  that  government  the  duty  of  adopting  measures 
to  supply  the  loss,  but  it  has  not  yet  occurred  to  the 
authorities  of  the  State  that  the  losses  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  interruption  of  its  business,  has  so  far 
changed  the  relations  of  the  Federal  and  State  systems, 
as  to  cast  any  portion  of  the  duty  of  providing  for 
any  of  the  wants  of  the  United  States  upon  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  they  are  as  little  able  to  understand 
how  it  is  that  events  that  cannot  operate  to  enlarge 
the  powers  of  the  government  of  the  State,  should 
operate  to  confer  upon  a Lieutenant-General  of  the 
army  the  authority  to  interfere  in  matters  of  purely 
local  State  concern,  or  to  authorize  the  General  com- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


367 


manding  the  army  to  recognize  and  approve  the  ap- 
plication of  the  Lieutenant-General,  and  order  four 
companies  of  United  States  Infantry  to  report  to  him 
to  discharge  the  mere  civil  duties  of  “ police.  ” • 

I do  not,  of  course,  propose  to  discuss  with  your 
Excellency  the  question  of  the  relative  rights  and 
powers  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  States,  under 
the  constitution,  for  I will  not  anticipate  the  possi- 
bility of  a difference  of  opinion  upon  the  point  that 
the  duties  of  the  Executive  officers  of  the  two  systems 
are  defined  so  accurately,  and  are  kept  so  distinct  by 
written  constitutions  and  laws,  that  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  a conflict  between  them.  The  duty  of  the 
President  is  to  see  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
are  enforced,  and  that  of  the  Governor  of  Illinois  is 
confined  to  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  of  the  State. 
Neither  obstructs  the  other,  nor  aids  nor  interferes 
with  his  duties.  The  Governor  of  a State  derives  none 
of  his  powers  from  the  United  States,  nor  are  his  duties 
subject,  in  any  respect,  to  the  consent  or  discretion  of 
the  President,  who  can,  in  nowise,  enlarge,  abridge, 
or  interrupt  them,  either  by  assuming  them  himself, 
or  by  entrusting  them  to  others. 

As  these  opinions  seem  to  me  to  be  incontrovertible, 
I cannot  doubt  that  the  orders  to  United  States  troops 
to  act  as  police,  or  to  otherwise  interfere  in  the  affairs 
or  duties  of  the  State,  or  of  any  of  its  officers,  were  made 
without  reflection,  and  that  the  troops  will  be  at  once 
withdrawn  from  this  State;  or,  that  the  orders  for 
their  government  will  be  so  modified  as  to  prohibit 
their  employment  as  police,  or  in  any  other  way  to 
interfere  with  any  of  the  duties  and  functions  of  any 
of  the  officers  under  the  laws  of  this  State.  The  State 
of  Illinois  cannot  accept  their  aid,  or  permit  their  in- 
terference in  its  affairs,  without  a sacrifice  of  the  con- 
fidence of  its  citizens,  nor  without  giving  countenance 
to  a dangerous  example. 

Kespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

John  M.  Palmer. 


368  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  D.  C.,  November  25,  1871. 
To  His  Excellency,  John  M.  Palmer, 

Governor  of  Illinois,  Springfield,  111.: 

Sir  : I have  received  your  letter  of  the  20th  instant, 
and  have  referred  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  with 
directions  to  inform  Gen.  Sheridan  that  if  the  troops 
under  his  command  have  received  any  orders  which 
in  any  way  conflict  with  the  provisions  of  the  con- 
stitution or  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  he  is  in- 
structed to  rescind  them. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  U.  S.  Grant. 

Here  the  correspondence  ended,  but  the  Governor  was 
unwilling  that  the  disposition  of  so  important  a matter 
should  be  left  entirely  to  the  judgment  of  the  Seretary 
of  War,  and  when  the  adjourned  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature met,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1871,  he  com- 
municated to  it  an  account  of  his  official  action  during 
the  Chicago  fire,  and  submitted  the  correspondence 
between  himself,  the  President,  and  others,  relating  to 
the  military  occupation  of  Chicago  by  Lieut. -Gen. 
Sheridan,  and  asked  official  action  upon  the  same.  On 
the  9th  of  December,  the  House  referred  the  matter  to 
a special  committee  of  seven,  which  consisted  of  Messrs. 
E.  M.  Haines,  G.  W.  Rives,  H.  Watson  Webb,  Charles 
H.  Rice,  John  N.  McMillan,  Oscar  F.  Price,  and  A.  J. 
Galloway.  The  committee  investigated  the  subject  at 
length,  examining  persons  and  papers,  and  submitted 
majority  and  minority  reports,  on  the  6th  of  January, 
1872.  On  the  25th  of  January,  the  House  resolved 
itself  into  a committee  of  the  whole  for  the  consider- 
ation of  the  subject.  Mr.  Daniels,  from  said  committee, 
reported  the  following  resolutions  as  having  been 
agreed  upon : 

Resolved , That  the  so-called  military  occupation  of 
Chicago,  by  troops  of  the  United  States,  and  troops 
raised  under  orders  of  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
United  States  forces,  in  said  city,  subsequent  to  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


369 


conflagration  of  October  8th,  1871,  should  be  discussed 
and  decided  upon  the  well  known  principles  of  consti- 
tutional law,  applicable  to  the  existing  facts  in  the  case. 

Resolved,  That  the  military  should  be  in  strict  sub- 
ordination to  the  civil  power,  and  we  regard  any  in- 
fraction of  this  principle  a matter  of  vital  concern, 
establishing  a precedent  dangerous  to  liberty ; and  we 
believe  that  the  military  should  never  be  called 
upon  to  interfere  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  any  State 
or  city,  except  in  the  mode  pointed  out  by  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  land. 

Resolved,  That  we  declare  as  unlawful,  and  an  in- 
fraction of  the  constitution,  both  of  this  State  and  of 
the  United  States,  the  said  so-called  military  occupa- 
tion ; yet,  in  view  of  the  trying  circumstances  and  the 
great  calamity  existing  when  this  military  power  was 
exercised,  we  exonorate  the  Federal  government  and 
Federal  military  authorities  from  intent  to  willfully 
trespass  upon  the  constitutional  rights  of  this  State, 
or  to  interfere  with  its  properly  constituted  authori- 
ties during  the  emergency  created  by  the  recent  fire. 

Resolved,  That  the  protest  of  the  Executive  of  this 
State  against  a violation  of  the  constitution,  was  the 
performance  of  a duty  imposed  upon  him  by  his  office, 
and  establishes  a valuable  precedent,  which  is  hereby 
approved. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Springer,  the  resolutions  were 
voted  upon  separately.  The  first  was  agreed  tp  with- 
out a call  of  the  roll.  The  vote  on  the  second  was, 
yeas,  119;  nays,  0.  On  the  third,  yeas,  59  ; nays,  52. 
On  the  fourth,  yeas,  92;  nays,  7. 

This  ended  the  controversy,  which  had  gained  great 
prominence  all  over  the  country,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  such  distinguished  persons  were  connected  with 
it;  and  while  the  Legislature  was  guarded  in  its  lan- 
guage criticising  the  matter,  accepting  as  true  the 
statement  of  the  President,  that  the  violation  of  the 
constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  of  the  United 
States  was  not  willful,  yet  it  declared  it  a precedent 
dangerous  to  liberty,  and  approved  the  protest  of 
—24 


370  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Gov.  Palmer,  as  the  performance ' of  a duty  imposed 
upon  him  by  his  oath  of  office,  and  as  an  act  estab- 
lishing a valuable  precedent. 

Constitution  of  1848. 

The  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848  worked  a 
complete  revolution  in  the  government  of  the  State. 
Under  the  constitution  of  1818,  the  entire  government 
was  virtually  in  the  hands  of  the  Legislature.  There 
were  but  two  State  officers  which  were  elective  by  the 
people — Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor.  The  con- 
stitution provided  that  the  Governor  should  appoint 
the  Secretary  of  State,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  and  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Treasurer, 
Attorney-General,  Public  Printer,  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  Judges  of  the  inferior  courts  and  State’s 
Attorneys  were  elected  by  the  joint  assembly  of  the 
Legislature.  The  Governor  had,  comparatively,  little 
power.  He  and  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
constituted  a Council  of  Revision,  to  revise  all  bills 
passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  those  not  meeting  with 
their  approval  would  be  returned  to  the  house  in  which 
they  originated,  with  their  objections,  and  if  afterward 
approved  by  a majority  of  both  houses,  they  became 
laws,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  Council. 
Whenever  the  Legislature  chose  to  differ  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, he  became  a mere  figure-head,  as  was  the  case 
when  Joseph  Duncan  became  the  Executive.  His  power 
was  abridged  in  every  conceivable  way,  and  he  was 
left  with  only  the  right  to  appoint  without  the  consent 
of  the  Legislature  the  Notaries  Public  and  Public  Ad- 
ministrators. In  1838,  Gov.  Carlin  attempted  to  re- 
move Alexander  P.  Field  from  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State.  Field  was  a Whig,  and  had  been  appointed 
by  Gov.  Edwards,  in  1828.  Carlin  was  a Democrat, 
and  claimed  the  right  to  remove  Field,  on  the  plea 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


371 


that  he  was  a confidential  officer,  bnt  the  Whigs  of 
the  Senate,  assisted  by  a sufficient  number  of  Demo- 
crats to  give  them  a majority,  resisted  his  removal, 
and  declined  to  confirm  any  of  the  six  different  nomi- 
nations made  by  the  Governor,  among  whom  was  John 
A,  McClernand,  and  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Leg- 
islature, the  Governor  reappointed  McClernand,  who 
demanded  the  office  of  Field,  and,  on  his  refusal  to 
surrender  it,  McClernand  appealed  to  the  courts,  and 
the  case  was  finally  tried  at  the  December  term  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  1839,  and  decided  in  favor  of  the 
incumbent.  The  opinion,  by  Chief  Justice  William 
Wilson,  and  the  dissenting  opinion,  by  Justice  The- 
ophilus  W.  Smith,  occupies  105  pages  in  Second  Scam- 
mon.  Ford  tells  us  that  the  ablest  counsel  in  the  State 
were  employed  on  either  side,  and  the  opinion  of  the 
court  was  regarded  as  a matter  of  great  consequence, 
the  Democrats  contending  that  the  odious  doctrine  of 
life-officers  had  been  established  by  it.  But  in  1840, 
the  Governor  removed  Mr.  Field,  and  appointed  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  as  his  successor,  who  was  confirmed  with- 
out difficulty,  as  the  Senate  was  then  strongly  Demo- 
cratic. 

The  courts  were  also  in  a great  degree  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  Legislature.  New  circuits  and  new  judges 
were  created  at  the  pleasure  of  the  body,  while  the 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  would  be  required  to  per- 
form circuit  duty  by  one  Legislature  and  another  would 
relieve  them  of  that  duty,  and  in  this  way  there  was 
constant  confusion  in  the  administration  of  justice  by 
the  Judiciary. 

It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  see  that  the  Legislature,  and 
not  the  people,  governed  the  State.  The  Legislature 
was  then  the  gateway  to  political  distinction,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  ablest  men  in  the  country  were 
found  in  either  branch  of  that  body.  At  every  session 


372 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  Capitol  was  thronged  with  eminent  men,  who  took 
prrt  in  the  disposition  of  the  offices.  Aspirants  for 
Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Congress,  or  a seat  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  who  had  not  served  in  the 
Legislature,  rarely  succeeded.  Indeed,  politics  was  then 
the  occupation  of  the  country.  The  State  was  ranked 
as  the  twenty-third  in  the  Union.  We  were  then  with- 
out railroads  or  telegraph;  had  neither  wealth  nor 
population,  and  were  hopelessly  in  debt,  and  every  re- 
curring cycle  of  time  increased  the  debt,  because  we 
were  unable  to  pay  the  interest.  But  at  last  the  peo- 
ple, tired  of  the  methods  of  the  Legislature,  sought  to 
relieve  themselves  from  misrule  through  a constitu- 
tional convention.  The  change  was,  therefore,  very 
radical.  The  Legislature  was  stripped  of  all  power  to 
elect  or  appoint  officers.  As  is  known,  those  that 
were  not  made  elective  by  the  people,  the  authority  to 
appoint  them  was  given  to  the  Governor;  but,  in  or- 
der that  he  might  not  build  up  a dynasty,  he  was 
rendered  ineligible  to  reelection  within  eight  years. 
The  wisdom  of  the  men  who  framed  this  constitution 
was  not  only  implanted  in  it,  but  their  example  of 
fidelity  and  economy  remained  steadfast  with  the  peo- 
ple. AVhen  the  constitution  was  adopted,  the  State 
debt  had  reached  quite  $15,000,000  and  when  the  con- 
stitution of  1870  became  the  law,  there  was  but  $4,890,- 
937.30  of  that  debt  remaining,  and  the  population  of 
the  State  had  advanced  from  988,416,  in  1850,  to 
2,539,891,  in  1870.  But  as  the  State  had  outgrown 
this  constitution,  it  was  deemed  wise  to  frame  a new 
one,  and  relieve  the  people  of  the  two-mill  tax  which 
had  enabled  them  to  carry  the  State  debt;  and  while 
the  constitution  of  1870  is  regarded  as  a wise  instru- 
ment, yet  its  framers  evidently  made  one  vital  mistake, 
and  that  was  in  not  incorporating  in  it  the  provision 
of  the  constitution  of  1848,  restricting  the  election  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


373 


the  Governor  to  one  term  within  eight  years.  The 
absence  of  this  inhibition  enables  the  Governor,  if  it 
be  his  wish,  to  abuse  the  power  vested  in  his  office.. 
One  term  by  the  Governor  would  place  the  govern- 
ment of  the  State  very  much  nearer  the  people,  and 
the  nearer  a government  is  to  the  source  of  all  power, 
the  purer  it  is  and  the  nearer  it  will  attain  to  what  is 
meant  by  the  term,  a government  of  the  people 

Political  Changes. 

The  people  rarely,  if  ever,  forgive  men  of  distinction 
for  changing  their  political  relations,  no  matter  what 
the  cause  may  be.  In  1824,  Illinois  cast  her  electoral 
vote  for  Andrew  Jackson  for  President,  but,  as  there 
was  no  choice  in  the  Electoral  College,  the  election  was 
carried  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Daniel  P. 
Cook,  our  only  Representative  in  Congress,  voted  for 
John  Quincy  Adams.  At  the  ensuing  election  for  Con- 
gress, Mr.  Cook  was  defeated  by  Joseph  Duncan,  an 
ardent  Jackson  man,  but  in  time  Mr.  Duncan  differed 
with  Jackson  upon  questions  of  public  policy,  and  they 
became  so  widely  separated  that  Mr.  Duncan  was  led 
to  oppose  the  election  of  Martin  Van  Buren  for  Presi- 
dent, in  1836,  and  for  this  he  won  the  lasting  enmity 
of  the  Jackson  men.  We  say  Jackson  men,  for  then 
parties  were  better  known  in  Illinois  by  the  names  of 
personal  leaders  than  by  any  party  name.  In  re- 
ferring to  this  matter,  Ford  suggests  if  men  could 
reverse  the  order  of  their  existence  and  come  into  the 
world  in  old  age,  when  they  were  able  to  choose  their 
political  associations  upon  questions  of  principle,  that 
they  might  avoid  the  calumny  which  is  visited  upon 
them  for  leaving  one  political  party  for  another.  Dun- 
can was  even  more  violently  pursued  than  Cook  had 
been,  and  though  he  lived  until  1844,  he  was  never 
forgiven  by  the  Democratic  party.  But  how  true  the 


374 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


conclusions  of  Mr.  Ford.  When  Gen.  Logan  left  the 
Democratic  party  and  joined  his  fortunes  with  the  Re- 
publican, perhaps  no  man  in  the  country  was  ever 
more  bitterly  pursued  by  former  political  associates, 
and  there  were  men  in  the  Republican  party  to  the  day 
of  his  death  who  never  gave  him  credit  for  honesty  of 
purpose  in  making  the  change,  simply  because  he  had 
not  been  born  a Republican.  In  the  impeachment  trial 
of  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
Lyman  Trumbull  was  one  of  seven  Republican  United 
States  Senators  who  did  not  believe  the  charges  against 
him  were  proven,  and  he  voted  against  convicting  him. 
The  party  policy  was  in  favor  of  impeachment,  and 
there  was  a storm  of  indignation  all  over  the  country 
against  the  Republican  Senators  who  had  voted  to 
acquit  the  President,  and  none  were  more  relentlessly 
pursued  than  Wm.  Pitt  Fessenden  and  Lyman  Trum- 
bull. Soon  after  the  trial,  a Republican  member  of 
Congress  from  Illinois  wrote  a letter  to  the  writer,  in 
which  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  Senator  Trumbull, 
by  that  act,  had  forfeited  the  respect  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  the  result  was  that,  although  recognized 
as  one  of  the  foremost  statesmen  in  the  country,  he 
was  retired  from  the  United  States  Senate,  and  finally 
driven  from  the  fold  of  the  Republican  party. 

But  few,  if  any,  of  the  descendents  of  the  eminent 
men  connected  with  the  early  government  of  Illinois 
are  in  public  life.  Such  names  as  Edwards,  Bond  and 
Coles  have  long  since  been  relegated  to  retirement. 
Semple  is  one  of  the  last  of  the  illustrious  names  to 
be  associated  with  public  office.  Eugene  Semple,  son 
of  James  Semple,  was  appointed  Governor  of  Wash- 
ington Territory  by  President  Cleveland.  His  father 
was  a conspicuous  figure  in  the  politics  of  Illinois 
many  years  ago.  He  was  Attorney-General  in  1833; 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1842,  and 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  375 

was  United  States  Senator  from  1843  to  1847.  He 
died  at  Elsah  Landing,  in  January,  1867.  Eugene 
Semple  was  born  in  Bogota,  New  Grenada,  June  12, 
1840,  now  the  United  States  of  Columbia,  when  his 
father  represented  the  government  at  Washington  as 
Foreign  Minister;  he  attended  the  public  schools  of 
Jersey  County,  and  took  a collegiate  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  St.  Louis;  studied  law  and  attended  the 
lectures  at  the  law  school  of  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  is 
a graduate.  In  1863  he  removed  to  Oregon,  and  there 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession;  he  was  editor-in- 
chief  of  the  Oregon  Herald  at  the  time  he  received  his 
appointment.  A daughter  of  James  Semple,  in  the  per- 
son of  Mrs.  Lucy  V.  Semple  Ames,  is  still  a resident  of 
Elsah,  Illinois,  the  old  family  home. 


CHATPER  XLIX. 

GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Since  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a State, 
there  have  been  twenty  gubernatorial  elections.  Under 
the  Constitution  of  1818  the  Governor  was  ineligible  to  a 
second  election  in  succession,  and  the  same  provision  ex- 
isted in  the  Constitution  of  1848,  but  in  that  of  1870  this 
restriction  was  omitted.  French,  Oglesby  and  Cullom  are 
the  only  persons  who  have  held  the  office  twice.  The  Con- 
stitution of  1848  legislated  French  out  of  office,  and  he 
was  re-elected  that  year.  * Oglesby  was  elected  the  second 
time  after  the  lapse  of  four  years.  Cullom,  under  the 
Constitution  of  1870,  was  elected  to  succeed  himself.  The 
names  of  the  Governors  are  given  chronologically. 

Shadrach  Bond  became  Governor  October  6,  1818;  Ed- 
ward Coles,  December  5,  1822;  Ninian  Edwards,  Decem- 
ber 6,  1826 ; John  Reynolds,  December  9,  1830.  Reynolds 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1834,  and  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing, 
Lieut-Gov.,  succeeded  to  the  office  November  17.  Joseph 


* See  Chapter  LXI. 


376  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Duncan  became  Governor  December  3,  1834 ; Thos.  Carlin,, 
December  7,  1838 ; Thos.  Ford,  December  8,  1842 ; Augus- 
tus C.  French,  December  9,  1846,  and  again  January  8,. 
1849,  Joel  A.  Matteson,  January,  1853;  Wm.  H.  Bissell, 
January  12,  1857.  Bissell  died  March  15,  1860,  and  John 
Wood,  Lieut. -Gov.,  succeeded  to  the  office  March  21,  I860.. 
Kichard  Yates  became  Governor  January  14,  1861;  Rich- 
ard J.  Oglesby,  January  16,  1865,  and  again  January  13,. 
1873;  John  M.  Palmer,  January  11,  1869.  In  1873,  Gov. 
Oglesby  was  elected  United  States  Senator,  and  John  L. 
Beveridge,  Lieut. -Gov.,  succeeded  to  the  office  January 
23,  1873.  Shelby  M.  Cullom  became  Governor  January 
8,  1877,  and  again  January  10,  1881.  He  was  elected 
United  States  Senator  in  1883,  and  John  M.  Hamilton,. 
Lieut.-Gov.,  succeeded  to  the  office  February  6,  1883.* 
Illinois  has  not  yet  had  for  Governor  a citizen  who  was 
born  in  the  State.  Of  the  eighteen  persons  who  have 
occupied  the  gubernatorial  chair  two  were  born  in  Mary- 
land, Bond  and  Edwards;  one  in  Virginia,  Coles;  two  in 
Pennsylvania,  Reynolds  and  Ford;  seven  in  Kentucky, 
Ewing,  Duncan  Carlin,  Yates,  Oglesby,  Palmer  and  Cul- 
lom ; one  in  New  Hampshire,  French ; four  in  New  York, 
Matteson,  Bissell,  Wood  and  Beveridge,  and  one  in  Ohio, 
Hamilton.  How  rapidly  the  new  generations  come  to 
assume  the  duties  and  cares  of  government!  None  of 
these  are  living  save  Oglesby,  Palmer,  Beveridge,  Cullom, 
and  Hamilton  the  present  incumbent.  Bond  died  April  13, 
1832,  at  Kaskaskia;  Edwards,  July  20, 1833;  Duncan,  Janu- 
ary 15,  1844;  Ewing,  March  25,  1846;  Ford,  November  2, 
1850 ; Carlin,  February  14, 1852 ; Bissell,  March  15,  1860,  at 
Springfield ; French,  September  4,  1864,  at  Lebanon ; Rey- 
nolds, May  8,  1865,  at  Belleville;  Coles,  July  7,  1868,  at 
Philadelphia;  Matteson,  January,  1873,  at  Chicago;  Yates,. 
November  28,  1873,  at  St.  Louis,  at  Barnum’s  Hotel; 
Wood,  June  4,  1880.  

*Oglesbv  succeeded  Hamilton  in  1885,  and  Joseph  W.  Fifer  Oglesby,  in 

18 <9.  Flier  #was  born  in  Virginia. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


377 


CHAPTER  L. 

ILLINOIS  IN  CONGRESS. 


Delegates  in  Congress  from  1811  to  1818— Representatives  from  1818  to  1885- 
Senators  from  1818  to  1889. 


Note— d.  Democrat;  wt  Whig;  r.  Republican;  i%  Independent;  g,  Greenback. 


From  Lanman’s  Biographical  Annals  and  the  Congres- 
sional Directory  we  have  compiled  an  authentic  list  of  the 
Delegates  and  Representatives  and  Senators  in  Congress 
from  the  Territory  and  State,  beginning  with  the  Twelfth 
Congress,  which  convened  November  4,  1811,  and  closing 
with  the  Fiftieth,  which  terminates  March  3,  1889 : 

Delegates. 

Shadrach  Bond,  ( d ) of  Kaskaskia,  was  the  first  Delegate ; 
he  served  in  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Congresses ; October 
3,  1814,  he  was  appointed  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  at 
Kaskaskia. 

Benjamin  Stephenson,  ( d ) of  Edwardsville,  succeeded 
Bond,  and  served  until  1816,  when  he  was  appointed  Re- 
ceiver of  Public  Moneys  at  Edwardsville. 

Nathaniel  Pope,  ( d ) succeeded  Stephenson,  serving  until 
1818. 


Representatives. 

John  McLean,  ( d ) of  Shawneetown,  was  elected  Repre- 
sentative in  1818,  and  served  one  term. 

Daniel  P.  Cook,  ( d ) of  Kaskaskia,  represented  the  State 
from  1820  to  1827. 


378 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Joseph  Duncan,  (d)  of  Jacksonville,  represented  the  State 
from  1827  to  1834,  when  he  was  elected . Governor.  In  the 
meantime  the  census  of  1830  had  increased  the  represen- 
tation from  one  to  three,  and  under  this  apportionment 
he  then  represented  the  third  district. 

Charles  Slade,  ( d ) of  Belleville,  represented  the  first  dis- ' 
trict  in  1833;  he  died  in  July  of  the  same  year. 

John  Reynolds,  ( d ) of  Belleville,  succeeded  Slade,  and 
represented  the  district  until  1837,  and  again  from  1839 
to  1843. 

Adam  W.  Snyder,  (d)  of  Belleville,  represented  the  first 
district  from  1837  to  1839. 

Zadok  Casey,  (d)  of  Mt.  Yernon,  represented  the  second 
district  from  1833  to  1843. 

William  L.  May,  (d)  of  Springfield,  represented  the  third 
district,  as  the  successor  of  Duncan,  from  1834  to  1839. 

John  T.  Stuart,  (w)  of  Springfield,  represented  the  third 
district  from  1839  to  1843,  and  the  eighth  from  1863  to 
1865. 

The  census  of  1840  increased  the  representation  from 
three  to  seven. 

Robert  Smith,  ( d ) of  Alton,  represented  the  first  district 
from  1843  to  1849,  and  the  eighth  from  1857  to  1859. 

* William  H.  Bissell,  (d)  of  Belleville,  represented  the 
first  district  from  1849  to  1853,  and  the  eighth  from  1853 
to  1855. 

John  A.  McClernand,  (d)  of  Shawneetown,  represented  the 
second  district  from  1843  to  1851,  and  the  sixth  (Spring- 
field),  from  1859  to  1861,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the 
commission  of  Brigadier-General  in  the  Union  army. 

Willis  Allen,  (d)  of  Marion,  represented  the  second  dis- 
trict from  1851  to  1853,  and  the  ninth  from  1853  to  1855. 

Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  ( d ) of  Charleston,  represented  the 
third  district  from  1843  to  1849,  and  again  from  1851  to 
1853. 


♦ Afterwards  a Republican. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  879 

Timothy  R.  Young,  (d)  of  Marshall,  represented  the  third 
district  from  1849  to  1851. 

*John  Wentworth,  (d)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1848  to  1851,  and  the  second  from  1853  to 
1855,  and  the  first  from  1855  to  1867. 

Richard  S.  Molony,  ( d ) of  Belvidere,  represented  the 
fourth  district  from  1851  to  1853. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  (d)  of  Quincy,  represented  the  fifth 
district  from  1843  to  April,  1847,  when  he  resigned  to 
accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator. 

William  A.  Richardson,  (d)  of  Rushville,  represented  the 
fifth  district  from  1847  to  August  18,  1856,  when  he  re- 
signed, and  again  from  1861  to  1863,  when  he  was  elected 
United  States  Senator. 

Joseph  P.  Hoge,  (d)  of  Galena,  represented  the  sixth  dis- 
trict from  1843  to  1847. 

* Thomas  J.  Turner,  (d)  of  Freeport,  represented  the  sixth 
district  from  1847  to  1849. 

Thompson  Campbell,  ( d ) of  Galena,  represented  the  sixth 
district  from  1851  to  1853. 

John  J.  Hardin,  ( w ) of  Jacksonville,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1843  to  1845. 

Edward  D.  Baker,  (w)  of  Springfield,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1845  to  December  30,  1846,  when 
he  resigned,  and  the  sixth  from  1849  to  1-851. 

John  Henry,  ( w ) of  Jacksonville,  filled  out  the  vacancy 
of  Baker. 

* Abraham  Lincoln,  ( w ) of  Springfield,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1847  to  1849. 

Thomas  L.  Harris,  ( d ) of  Petersburg,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1849  to  1851,  and  the  sixth  from  1855 
to  November  24,  1859,  when  he  died. 

* Richard  Yates,  ( w ) of  Jacksonville,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1851  to  1853,  and  the  sixth  from 
1853  to  1855. 


* Afterwards  a Republican, 


380 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  census  of  1850  increased  the  representation  from 
seven  to  nine. 

*Elihu  B.  Washburne,  (w)  of  Galena,  represented  the  first 
district  from  1853  to  1863,  and  the  third  from  1863  to 
March  9,  1869,  * when  he  resigned  to  accept  the  office  of 
Minister  to  France. 

James  H.  Woodworth,  ( d ) of  Chicago,  represented  the 
second  district  from  1855  to  1857. 

John  F.  Farnsworth,  ( r ) of  Chicago,  represented  the 
second  distribt  from  1857  to  1861,  and  again  from  1863 
to  1873. 

Isaac  N.  Arnold,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  second 
district  from  1861  to  1863,  and  the  first  from  1863  to* 
1865. 

Jesse  0.  Norton,  (r)  of  Joliet,  represented  the  third  dis- 
trict from  1853  to  1857,  and  the  sixth  from  1863  to  1865. 

Owen  Lovejoy,  (r)  of  Princeton,  represented  the  third  dis~ 
trict  from  1857  to  1863,  and  the  fifth  from  1863  to  March, 
1864,  when  he  died. 

James  Knox,  (r)  of  Knoxville,  represented  the  fourth  dis- 
trict from  1853  to  1857. 

William  Kellogg,  (r)  of  Canton,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1857  to  1863. 

Jacob  C.  Davis  ( d ) filled  out  the  vacancy  of  Richardson 
in  the  fifth  district,  from  August  25,  1856,  to  1857. 

Isaac  N.  Morris,  ( d ) of  Quincy,  represented  the  fifth 
district  from  1857  to  1861. 

Charles  D.  Hodges,  ( d ) of  Carrollton,  filled  out  the 
vacancy  of  Harris  in  the  sixth  district  from  January  20, 
1859,  to  March  3. 

A.  L.  Knapp,  ( d ) of  Jerseyville,  filled  out  the  vacancy  of 
McClernand  in  the  sixth  district  from  December  12,  1861, 
to  1863,  and  represented  the  tenth  from  1863  to  1865. 


♦ Afterwards  a Republican. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  381 

James  C.  Allen,  ( d ) of  Palestine,  represented  the  seventh 
•district  from  1853  to  1857,  and  the  State-at-Large  from 
1863  to  1865. 

Aaron  Shaw,  ( d ) of  Lawrenceville,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1857  to  1859,  and  the  sixteenth  from 
1883  to  1885. 

James  C.  Eobinson,  ( d ) of  Marshall,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1859  to  1863,  and  the  eleventh  from 
1863  to  1865,  and  the  eighth  (Springfield)  from  1871  to  1873, 
and  the  twelfth  (Springfield)  from  1873  to  1875. 

*Lyman  Trumbull,  (d) of  Belleville,  was  elected  from  the 
eighth  district  to  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  but  resigned 
in  1855  to  accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator. 

J.  L.  D.  Morrison,  (d)  of  Belleville,  was  elected  to  succeed 
Trumbull  in  the  eighth  district,  and  served  one  term. 

Philip  B.  Fouke,  (d)  of  Belleville,  represented  the  eighth 
district  from  1859  to  1863. 

Samuel  S.  Marshall,  (d)  of  McLeansboro,  represented  the 
ninth  district  from  1855  to  1859,  and  the  eleventh  from 
1865  to  1873,  and  the  nineteenth  from  1873  to  1875. 

t John  A.  Logan,  ( d ) of  Benton,  represented  the  ninth  dis- 
trict from  1859  to  1861,  when  he  resigned,  and,  raising  a 
regiment,  went  into  the  Union  army ; and  the  State-at- 
Large  from  1867  to  1871,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the 
office  of  United  States  Senator. 

William  J.  Allen,  (d)  of  Marion,  filled  out  the  vacancy  of 
Logan  in  the  ninth  district,  and  represented  the  thir- 
teenth from  1863  to  1865. 

The  census  of  1860  increased  the  representation  from 
nine  to  fourteen. 

t Samuel  W.  Moulton,  (r)  of  Shelby ville,  represented  the 
State-at-Large  from  1865  to  1867,  and  the  fifteenth  dis- 
trict from  1881  to  1883,  and  the  seventeenth  from  1883 
to  1885. 


* Afterwards  a Republican— now  a Democrat, 
t Afterwards  a Republican.  t Now  a Democrat. 


382 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Norman  B.  Judd,  ( r ) of  Chicago,  represented  the  first  dis- 
trict from  1867  to  1871. 

Charles  B.  Farwell,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  first 
district  from  1871  to  1873,  and  the  third  from  1873  to 
1875 — and  he  received  the  certificate  of  election  to  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress ; there  was  a contest,  and  the  seat 
declared  vacant;  and  he  again  represented  the  third  dis- 
trict from  1881  to  1883. 

Horatio  C.  Burchard,  ( r ) of  Freeport,  represented  the  third 
district  from  1869,  as  the  successor  of  Washburne,  to  1873, 
and  the  fifth  from  1873  to  1879. 

Chas.  M.  Harris,  ( d ) of  Oquawka,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1863  to  1865. 

Abner  C.  Harding,  (r)  of  Monmouth,  represented  the 
fourth  district  from  1865  to  1869. 

John  B.  Hawley,  (r)  of  Rock  Island,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1869  to  1873,  and  the  sixth  from  1873  to 
1875. 

Ebon  C.  Ingersoll,  (r)  of  Peoria,  represented  the  fifth  dis- 
trict, as  the  successor  of  Lovejoy,  from  1864  to  1871. 

Bradford  N.  Stevens,  ( d ) of  Princeton,  represented  the 
fifth  district  from  1871  to  1873. 

Burton  C.  Cook,  ( r ) of  Ottawa,  represented  the  sixth  dis- 
trict from  1865  to  1871,  when  he  resigned. 

Henry  Snapp,  (r)  of  Joliet,  filled  out  the  vacancy  of  Cook, 
from  December  4,  1871,  to  March  3,  1873. 

John  R.  Eden,  (d)  of  Sullivan,  represented  the  seventh 
district  from  1863  to  1865,  and  the  fifteenth  from  1873 
to  1879. 

Henry  P.  H.  Bromwell,  (r)  of  Charleston,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1865  to  1869. 

Jesse  H.  Moore,  ( r ) of  Decatur,  represented  the  seventh 
district  from  1869  to  1873. 

Shelby  M.  Cullom,  (r)  of  Springfield,  represented  the 
eighth  district  from  1865  to  1871. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


383 


Lewis  W.  Eoss,  ( d ) of  Lewiston,  represented  the  ninth  dis- 
trict from  1868  to  1869. 

Thompson  W.  McNeely,  ( d ) of  Petersburg,  represented  the 
ninth  district  from  1869  to  1873. 

Anthony  Thornton,  ( d ) of  Shelbyville,  represented  the 
tenth  district  from  1865  to  1867. 

Albert  G.  Burr,  (d)  of  Carrollton,  represented  the  tenth 
district  from  1867  to  1871. 

Edward  Y.  Eice,  ( d ) of  Hillsboro,  represented  the  tenth 
district  from  1871  to  1873. 

William  E.  Morrison,  (d)  of  Waterloo,  represented  the 
twelfth  district  from  1863  to  1865,  and  the  seventeenth 
from  1873  to  1883,  and  the  eighteenth  from  1883  to  1885. 

Jehu  Baker,  ( r ) of  Belleville,  represented  the  twelfth  dis- 
trict from  1865  to  1869. 

John  B.  Hay,  ( r ) of  Belleville,  represented  the  twelfth 
district  from  1869  to  1873. 

Andrew  J.  Kuykendall,  ( r ) of  Vienna,  represented  the 
thirteenth  district  from  1865  to  1867. 

Green  B.  Eaum,  ( r ) of  Harrisburg,  represented  the 
thirteenth  district  from  1867  to  1869. 

John  M.  Crebs,  (d)  of  Carmi,  represented  the  thirteenth 
district  from  1869  to  1873. 

John  L.  Beveridge,  (r)  of  Evanston,  filled  out  the  vacancy 
of  Logan,  from  the  State-at-Large,  from  1871  to  1873. 

The  census  of  1870  increased  the  representation  from 
fourteen  to  nineteen: 

John  B.  Eice,  ( r ) of  Chicago,  represented  the  first  district 
from  1873  to  December,  1874,  when  he  died. 

Bernard  G.  Caulfield,  (d)  of  Chicago,  succeeded  Eice,  and 
represented  the  first  district  from  1875  to  1877. 

William  Aldrich,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  first  dis- 
trict from  1877  to  1883. 

Jasper  D.  Ward,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  second 
district  from  1873  to  1875. 


.284 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Carter  H.  Harrison,  (d)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  second 
district  from  1875  to  1879. 

George  it.  Davis,  ( r ) of  Chicago,  represented  the  second 
district  from  1879  to  1883,  and  the  third  from  1883  to  1885. 

John  Y.  LeMoyne,  ( d ) of  Chicago,  represented  the  third 
district  from  May  6,  1876,  to  1877. 

Lorenz  Brentano,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  third 
district  from  1877  to  1879. 

Hiram  Barber,  Jr.,  (r)  of  Chicago,  represented  the  third 
district  from  1879  to  1881. 

Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  (r)  of  Belvidere,  represented  the 
fourth  district  from  1873  to  1877. 

William  Lathrop,  (r)  of  Rockford,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1877  to  1879. 

John  C.  Sherwin,  (r)  of  Geneva,  represented  the  fourth 
district  from  1879  to  1883. 

Robert  M.  A.  Hawk,  (r)  of  Mt.  Carroll,  represented  the 
fifth  district  from  1879  to  1882,  when  he  died. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  ( r ) of  Princeton,  represented  the 
sixth  district  from  1875  to  1883,  and  the  seventh  from 
1883  to  1885. 

Franklin  Corwin,  (r)  of  Peru,  represented  the  seventh  dis- 
trict from  1873  to  1875. 

Alexander  Campbell,  (g)  of  LaSalle,  represented  the 
seventh  district  from  1875  to  1877. 

Philip  C.  Hayes,  (r)  of  Morris,  represented  the  seventh 
district  from  1877  to  1881. 

William  Cullen,  (r)  of  Ottawa,  represented  the  seventh 
district  from  1881  to  1883,  and  the  eighth  from  1883  to 
1885. 

Greenbury  L.  Fort,  (r)  of  Lacon,  represented  the  eighth 
district  from  1873  to  1881. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  ( r ) of  Pontiac,  represented  the  eighth 
district  from  1881  to  1883,  and  the  ninth  from  1883  to 
1885. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


385 


Granville  Barriere,  (r)  of  Canton,  represented  the  ninth 
district  from  1873  to  1875. 

Richard  H.  Whiting,  (r)  of  Peoria,  represented  the  ninth 
district  from  1875  to  1877. 

Thomas  A.  Boyd,  (r)  of  Lewiston,  represented  the  ninth 
district  from  1877  to  1881. 

John  H.  Lewis,  (r)  of  Knoxville,  represented  the  ninth 
district  from  1881  to  1883. 

William  H.  Ray,  (r)  of  Rushville,  represented  the  tenth 
district  from  1873  to  1875. 

John  C.  Bagby,  ( d ) of  Rushville,  represented  the  tenth 
district  from  1875  to  1877. 

Benjamin  F.  Marsh,  (r)  of  Warsaw,  represented  the  tenth 
district  from  1877  to  1883. 

Robert  M.  Knapp,  ( d ) of  Jerseyville,  represented  the 
eleventh  district  from  1873  to  1875,  and  again  from  1877 
to  1879. 

Scott  Wike,  ( d ) of  Pittsfield,  represented  the  eleventh 
district  from  1875  to  1877. 

James  W.  Singleton,  ( d ) of  Quincy,  represented  the 
eleventh  district  from  1879  to  1883. 

William  M.  Springer,  (d)  of  Springfield,  represented  the 
twelfth  district  from  1875  to  1883,  and  the  thirteenth 
from  1883  to  1885. 

John  McNulta,  (r)  of  Bloomington,  represented  the  thir- 
teenth district  from  1873  to  1875. 

Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  ( g ) of  Bloomington,  represented  xhe 
thirteenth  district  from  1875  to  1877,  and  again  from 
1879  to  1881. 

Thomas  F.  Tipton,  (r)  of  Bloomington,  represented  the 
thirteenth  district  from  1877  to  1879. 

Deitrich  C.  Smith,  (r)  of  Pekin,  represented  the  thirteenth 
district  from  1881  to  1883. 

—25 


886 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


Joseph  Gr.  Cannon,  (r)  of  Danville,  represented  the  four- 
teenth district  from  1878  to  1888,  and  the  fifteenth  from 
1883  to  1885  * 

Albert  P.  Forsythe,  (g)  of  Isabel,  represented  the  fifteenth 
district  from  1879  to  1881. 

James  S.  Martin,  (r)  of  Salem,  represented  the  sixteenth 
district  from  1873  to  1875. 

Wm.  A.  J.  Sparks,  ( d ) of  Carlyle,  represented  the  sixteenth 
district  from  1875  to  1883. 

Isaac  Clements,  (r)  of  Carbondale,  represented  the  eigh- 
teenth district  from  1873  to  1875. 

Wm.  Hartzell,  ( d ) of  Chester,  represented  the  eighteenth 
district  from  1875  to  1879. 

John  E.  Thomas,  (r)  of  Metropolis,  represented  the  eigh- 
teenth district  from  1879  to  1883,  and  the  twentieth  from 
1883  to  1885. 

Wm.  B.  Anderson,  (g)  of  Mt.  Vernon,  represented  the  nine- 
teenth district  from  1875  to  1877. 

Eichard  W.  Townshend,  ( d ) of  Shawneetown,  represented 
the  nineteenth  district  from  1877  to  1885. 

The  census  of  1880  increased  the  representation  from 
nineteen  to  twenty. 

Eansom  W.  Dunham,  (r)  of  Chicago,  was  elected  to  repre- 
sent the  first  district  from  1883  to  1885/ 

John  F.  Finerty,  ( d ) of  Chicago,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  second  district  from  1883  to  1885. 

Geo.  E.  Adams,  (r)  of  Chicago,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  fourth  district  from  1883  to  1885. 

Euben  Ellwood,  (r)  of  Sycamore,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  fifth  district  from  1883  to  1885. 

Eobert  E.  Hitt,  (r)  of  Mt.  Morris,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  fifth  district  from  1882  to  1883  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  the  death  of  Hawk,  and  the  sixth  district  from 
1883  to  1885. 


See  Chapter  LXI. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


887 


Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  ( d ) of  Peoria,  was  elected  to  rep- 
resent the  tenth  district  from  1888  to  1885. 

Wm.  H.  Neece,  (d)  of  Macomb,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  eleventh  district  from  1888  to  1885. 

Jas.  M.  Riggs,  (d)  of  Winchester,  was  elected  to  represent 
the  twelfth  district  from  1888  to  1835. 

Jonathan  H.  Rowell,  (r)  of  Bloomington,  was  elected  to 
represent  the  fourteenth  district  from  1883  to  1885. 

Senators. 

In  December,  1818,  Ninian  Edwards,  (d)  of  Edwardsville, 
was  elected  Senator  for  the  unexpired  term  of  the  Fifteenth 
Congress  which  terminated  in  1819;  in  1819  he  was  re- 
elected and  served  until  1824,  when  he  resigned. 

John  McLean,  (d)  of  Shawneetown,  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Edwards,  which  ter- 
minated March  3,  1825. 

In  1825,  Elias  Kent  Kane,  of  Kaskaskia,  was  elected  as 
the  successor  of  McLean ; in  1831,  he  was  re-elected,  and 
died  December  12,  1835.  The  Governor  appointed  Wm. 
L.  D.  Ewing,  of  Yandalia,  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

In  1837,  Richard  M.  Young,  ( d ) of  Jonesboro,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Ewing. 

In  1843,  Sidney  Breese,  ( d ) of  Carlyle,  was  elected  to  suc- 
ceed Young. 

In  1849,  James  Shields,  ( d ) of  Springfield,  was  elected  to 
succeed  Breese. 

In  1855,  *Lyman  Trumbull,  (d)  of  Belleville,  now  of 
Chicago,  was  elected  to  succeed  Shields ; in  1861  he  was 
re-elected  and  again  in  1867. 

In  1873,  Richard  J.  Oglesby,  (r)  of  Decatur,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Trumbull. 

In  1879,  John  A.  Logan  (r)  of  Carbondale,  now  of  Chicago, 
was  elected  to  succeed  Oglesby. 

’"Trumbull  became  a Republican  at  the  birth  of  the  party,  and  continued 
to  act  with  the  Republicans  until  1872. 


388 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Thus  we  have  passed  through  the  Senatorial  seat  first 
occupied  by  Ninian  Edwards,  from  1818  to  March  3,  1885, 
when  Logan’s  present  term  will  expire.  In  the  67  years 
which  will  then  have  elapsed,  ten  different  persons  have 
held  the  office. 

In  December  1818,  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  (< d ) of  Kaskaskia, 
was  elected  Senator  for  the  unexpired  term  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Congress,  and  was  re-elected  in  1823. 

In  1829,  John  McLean,  ( d ) of  Shawneetown,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Thomas,  but  he  died  October  4,  1830.  The 
Governor  appointed  David  J.  Baker,  ( d ) of  Kaskaskia,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  until  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

In  1830,  John  M.  Robinson,  ( d ) of  Carmi,  was  elected  to 
succeed  Baker;  in  1835  he  was  re-elected. 

In  1841,  Samuel  McRoberts,  (d)  of  Waterloo,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Robinson,  but  he  died  March  27,  1843.  The 
Governor  appointed  James  Semple,  ( d ) of  Alton,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  until  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly, 
when  he  was  elected  to  fill  out  the  term. 

In  1847,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  (d)  of  Quincy,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Semple;  he  was  re-elected  in  1853  and  again 
in  1859,  but  died  June  3,  1861.  The  Governor  appointed 
O.  H.  Browning,  (r)  of  Quincy,  to  fill  the  vacancy  until 
the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

In  1863,  Wm.  A.  Richardson,  (d)  of  Quincy,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Browning. 

In  1865,  Richard  Yates,  (r)  of  Jacksonville,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Richardson. 

In  1871,  John  A.  Logan,  (r)  of  Chicago,  was  elected  to 
succeed  Yates. 

In  1877,  David  Davis,  ( i ) of  Bloomington,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Logan. 

In  1883,  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  (r)  of  Springfield,  was  elected 
to  succeed  Davis. 

We  have  reviewed  the  Senatorial  seat  first  filled  by 
Thomas  down  to  the  election  of  Cullom,  whose  term  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  389 

office  will  expire  March  8,  1889.  In  the  71  years  which 
will  then  have  elapsed,  thirteen  different  persons  will  have 
filled  the  office. 

McLean  and  Logan  are  the  only  Senators  who  have 
occupied  both  seats.  Shields  was  a Senator  from  three 
States, — he  represented  Minnesota  in  the  unexpired  term 
of  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  from  May  12,  1857,  to  March 
3,  1859,  and  Missouri  from  January  27,  1879  to  March  3, 
1879,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Lewis 
V.  Bogy. 

Of  all  the  persons  who  have  represented  the  State  in 
the  United  States  Senate,  but  four  are  living — Trum- 
bull, Oglesby,  Cullom  and  Farwell.  Of  the  birth-places 
of  our  Senators,  nine  were  born  in  Kentucky,  Robin- 
son,  Ew’ing,  Young,  Semple,  Richardson,  Browning, 
Yates,  Oglesby,  Cullom ; three  in  Maryland,  Edwards, 
Thomas,  Davis;  three  in  New  York,  Kane,  Breese,  Far- 
well  ; two  in  Connecticut,  Baker,  Trumbull ; two  in  Illi- 
nois, McRoberts,  Logan;  one  in  Vermont,  Douglas;  one 
in  Ireland,  Shields;  one  in  North  Carolina,  McLean. 

From  1833  to  the  close  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress, 
in  1857,  all  the  Representatives  had  been  Democrats,  ex- 
cept John  T.  Stuart,  John  J.  Hardin,  Edward  D.  Baker, 
John  Henry,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Richard  Yates,  Elihu  B. 
Washbume,  Jesse  0.  Norton,  and  James  Knox,  all  of 
whom  were  Whigs.  From  1857  to  1863,  the  close  of  the 
Thirty- seventh  Congress,  the  political  complexion  of  the 
delegation  was  five  Democrats  and  four  Republicans ; from 
1863  to  1865,  eight  Democrats  and  six  Republicans ; from 
1865  to  1869,  eleven  Republicans  and  three  Democrats; 
from  1869  to  1871,  ten  Republicans  and  four  Democrats; 
from  1871  to  1873,  nine  Republicans,  four  Democrats  and 
one  Greenbacker;  from  1873  to  1875,  thirteen  Republicans 
and  six  Democrats ; from  1875  to  1877,  six  Republicans, 
ten  Democrats  and  three  Greenbackers ; from  1877  to  1879, 


390  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

eleven  Republicans  and  eight  Democrats ; from  1879  to 
1881,  twelve  Republicans,  five  Democrats  and  two  Green- 
backers  ; from  1881  to  1888,  thirteen  Republicans  and  six 
Democrats ; from  1883  to  1884,  eleven  Republicans  and 
nine  Democrats. 

In  the  Senate,  the  State  was  represented  exclusively  by 
Democrats  until  1855,  when  Lyman  Trumbull  was  elected 
to  succeed  Gen.  Shields,  as  an  anti-Nebraska  Democrat. 
In  1859,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  re-elected  as  a Democrat, 
and  in  1868,  William  A.  Richardson  was  elected  as  a 
Democrat,  as  the  successor  of  Douglas.  Since  that  time 
the  State  has  been  represented  in  that  body  by  Republi- 
cans, except  in  the  case  of  David  Davis, *who  was  elected 
by  a coalition  of  Democrats,  Republicans  and  Independ- 
ents, and  he  remained  independent  of  the  respective  polit- 
ical parties  during  his  term. 

Among  these  names  will  be  observed  many  illustrious 
men,  and  we  doubt  if  there  is  a State  in  the  Union,  old 
or  young,  that  can  show  a grander  record  as  to  states- 
manship. 

During  the  war,  Illinois  had  in  Congress  many  able, 
sagacious  and  patriotic  men,  among  whom  we  are  pleased 
to  mention  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  John  F.  Farnsworth,  OwTen 
Lovejoy,  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll,  and  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  of 
the  House,  and  Lyman  Trumbull  and  0.  H.  Browning,  of 
the  Senate.  Perhaps  the  men  who  had  as  much  to  do 
with  the  legislation  of  that  period  as  any  others,  were 
Lyman  Trumbull  and  Elihu  B.  Washburne. t Mr.  Trum- 
bull, as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  was  the 
peer  of  any  man  in  the  Senate,  and  wielded  a powerful 
influence  in  shaping  the  war  and  reconstruction  measures  ; 
while  Mr.  Washburne,  by  his  long  and  useful  service  in 
the  House,  was  called  the  “Father  of  the  House, ” and 
exercised  a marked  influence  in  those  perilous  times.  But 
Mr.  Trumbull  lost  favor  with  the  Republican  party  when 


*Died  June  26,  1886.  tDiecl  Oct.  22, 1887. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


891 


he  refused  to  vote  for  the  impeachment  of  President  John- 
son, in  1868,  since  which  time  he  has  affiliated  with  the 
Democratic  party.  The  history  of  the  impeachment  trial 
has  never  been  impartially  written,  and  in  the  light  of 
to-day,  it  is  not  unjust  to  say,  that  the  vote  of  Lyman 
Trumbull  may  have  stayed  the  political  madness  of  the 
hour,  and  preserved  the  Nation  from  establishing  a bad 
precedent. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

STATE  FUNDS. 


Disbursement  of  State  Funds  from  December  1,  1839,  to  October  1,  1882- 
Legislative— Executive— Judicial— Debt  for  Public  Works— Educational 
—Internal  Improvement  Debt  — Miscellaneous -Total— State  Debt— Its 
Payment. 


The  subjoined  table,  showing  the  amount'  of  the  State 
debt  from  January  1,  1840,  to  January  1,  1881.  when  it 
became  extinct,  and  the  disbursement  of  funds  from  De- 
cember 1,  1839,  to  October  1,  1882,  has  oeen  compiled 
by  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts  expressly  for  our  use, 
and  it  is  invaluable  as  showing  the  amount  expended  by 
the  State  for  all  purposes,  from  and  to  the  periods  indi- 
cated, inclusive,  and  the  various  purposes  for  which  the 
revenues  of  the  State  have  been  and  are  now  expended. 

In  explanation  of  the  classification  of  disbursements 
shown  in  this  table,  it  may  be  said  that  the  amounts  re- 
ported under  the  head  of  legislative,  includes  the  pay  of 
members  and  officers  of  the  General  Assembly,  the  expense 
of  printing  and  binding  legislative  reports,  journals,  bills, 
laws,  and  the  general  incidental  expenses  connected  with 
the  General  Assembly.  • 


392 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  amounts  reported  under  the  head  of  executive,  com- 
prehend the  salary  of  the  Governor  and  other  State  officers, 
the  expenses  of  the  various  State  departments  which  in- 
cludes clerk  hire,  stationery,  postage,  printing,  binding, 
light,  fuel,  porters,  janitors  and  general  repairs. 

Under  the  head  of  judicial,  is  placed  the  salaries  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Judges  of  the  Superior  and 
Circuit  Courts  of  Cook  county,  the  Judges  of  the  Appellate 
court,  the  Judges  of  the  various  Circuit  Courts,  the  State’s 
Attorneys,  the  Eeporter  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the 
expenses  of  the  various  divisions  of  the  Supreme  and 
Appellate  Courts. 

Under  the  head  of  debt  for  public  works  is  reported  the 
amount  expended  by  the  State  in  the  general  system  of 
internal  improvements. 

The  amounts  reported  under  the  head  of  educational, 
includes  the  disbursements  by  the  State  for  the  support 
of  the  common  school  system,  the  expenses  of  the  Normal 
Universities  and  the  Industrial  University. 

Under  the  head  of  miscellaneous,  is  embraced  the  ex- 
penses of  the  State  Government,  which  have  no  particu- 
lar classification.  In  these'  amounts  are  included  the 
expenditures  during  the  war,  and  for  charitable,  penal, 
and  reformatory  institutions,  and  on  account  of  the  new 
State  House;  the  larger  amounts  are  chiefly  on  account 
of  indebtedness  incurred  during  the  war,  and  for  expendi- 
tures in  the  erection  of  the  new  State  House. 

Under  the  head  of  State  debt  is  shown  the  original 
amount  of  the  State  debt  January  1,  1840,  which  was 
112,000,000,  and  which  continued  to  increase  until  1853, 
when  it  reached  the  frightful  sum  of  $16,724,177.41.  In 
1855,  it  was  reduced  to  $13,994,614.93 ; 1860,  to  $10,346,- 
017.06;  1870,  to  $4,890,937.30;  1880,  to  $281,059.11,  and 
the  report  for  1882  shows  that  the  debt  had  become 
utterly  extinct.  • 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


893 


No  State  in  the  Union  shows  a more  honorable  record 
in  dealing  with  its  creditors  than  Illinois.  When  the  law 
was  passed,  which  suspended  the  internal  improvement 
work,  there  was  a strong  disposition  on  the  part  of  some 
of  the  people  and  the  law-makers  to  repudiate  the  debt  for 
the  reason  that  they  believed  it  was  beyond  their  power 
to  pay  it,  but  a few  brave  men  said  no,  and  the  result 
has  been  that  the  obligations  of  the  State  have 
been  met  to  the  uttermost  farthing,  and  its  credit 
maintained  at  home  and  abroad.  When  this  balance  of 
$12,000,000  was  rendered,  the  Auditor’s  report  shows  that 
there  were  but  7,964,000  acres  of  land  in  the  State  which 
were  subject  to  taxation,  and  the  total  assessed  value  of 
all  real  and  personal  property  for  taxable  purposes  was  but 
$59,752,168,  and  the  receipts  of  the  State  treasury  during 
the  year  1840  were  only  $163,509,  and  the  disbursements 
were  $209,114,  which  will  go  far  to  explain  how  the  debt 
was  augmented  from  $12,000,000  to  $16,724,177.41. 

In  a further  examination  of  the  records  of  the  Auditor’s 
office,  we  have  found  that  during  the  year  1818,  the  total 
amount  received  into  the  State  treasury  for  that  year  was 
$8,017.69,  and  that  the  disbursements  for  all  purposes 
were  $7,902.28,  leaving  a balance  in  the  State  treasury 
of  $115.41.  With  the  change  in  the  form  of  government 
there  came  as  a natural  result,  an  increase  in  the  receipts 
and  disbursements  of  the  revenues,  but  it  was  gradual  and 
did  not  assume  any  great  magnitude  until  about  the  year 
1840,  the  date  from  which  the  table  has  been  compiled. 

In  contrast  with  the  condition  of  the  State  then  and 
now,  we  draw  from  the  records  of  the  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts  these  further  facts : The  number  of  acres  of 
land  assessed  for  taxation  in  1880,  was  34,392,324.  The 
number  of  town  and  city  lots  assessed  for  taxation  in  the 
same  year,  was  862,624.  The  total  assessed  value  of  all 
property  in  the  State  for  taxable  purposes  for  the  same 
year,  was  $786,616,394.  The  receipts  into  the  State 


394 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


treasury  during  the  year  1880,  were  $3,200,000.  The  total 
disbursements  for  the  same  year  were  $3,150,000.  With 
the  State  entirely  out  of  debt,  and  so  grand  a show- 
ing in  point  of  wealth,  no  reader,  who  is  a citizen  of  Illi- 
nois, can  contemplate  the  situation  without  feelings  of  pride 
and  pleasure  at  the  advancement  the  State  has  made. 

We  have  stated  in  this  connection  that  the  State  paid 
the  debt  incurred  under  the  internal  improvement  system 
to  the  uttermost  farthing,  principal  and  interest,  as  the 
records  of  the  Treasurer  and  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts 
fully  attest  ;*  yet  it  may  seem  strange  that,  in  the  face  of 
this  declaration,  the  biennial  report  of  the  Auditor  of 
Public  Accounts  for  1882,  shows,  on  page  84,  that  the 
claim  of  Macallister  & Stebbins,  filed  May  11,  1880,  for 
$409,168.80,  styled  old  State  debt,  was  dismissed  by  the 
Commission  of  Claims.  Now  that  the  reader  may  under- 
stand the  nature  of  this  decision,  and  the  character  of 
the  claim,  we  quote  the  preamble  and  section  1 of  an  act 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1849,  approved  Feb- 
ruary 10,  in  which  it  is  plainly  set  forth  how  the  so-called 
Macallister  & Stebbins  bonds  were  issued,  the  exact 
amount  of  money  obtained  on  them,  and  the  character  of 
the  settlement  made  between  the  State  and  Macallister  & 
Stebbins.  The  title  of  the  act  reads  thus : 

“An  act  to  prevent  loss  to  the  State  upon  the  Macal- 
lister & Stebbins  bonds.” 

The  preamble  is  in  these  words : 

“Whereas,  Macallister  & Stebbins,  of  New  York,  did, 
on  the  17th  June,  1841,  receive  of  John  D.  Whiteside, 
Fund  Commissioner  of  Illinois,  eight  hundred  and  four 
interest  bonds,  of  one  thousand  dollars  each,  bearing 
interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  dated 
May  14,  1841,  reimbursable  at  any  time  after  the  year 
1865,  upon  which  the  said  Macallister  & Stebbins,  about 
the  25th  June,  1841,  advanced  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  and  eighty-three 
cents ; and  whereas,  the  said  John  D.  Whitesida,  near  the 
said  25th  June,  delivered  to  the  said  Macallister  & Stebbins 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


395 


thirty  internal  improvement  bonds,  of  one  thousand  dol- 
lars each,  upon  which  they  agreed  to  make  a further 
advance  to  the  State  in  case  it  was  necessary,  to  pay  the 
July  interest  for  the  year  1841 — but  such  advance  never 
was  made,  as  it  was  not  required  to  pay  said  interest. 
About  the  1st  of  July,  1841,  the  said  John  D.  Whiteside 
gave  to  the  said  Macallister  & Stebbins  an  order  on 
Nevins,  Townsend  & Go.,  of  New  York,  for  forty-one  bonds 
of  one  thousand  dollars  each ; about  the  27th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1841,  the  said  Macallister  & Stebbins  received  of 
Michael  Kennedy  thirty-eight  thousand  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  dollars  and  forty-four  cents  of  State  scrip,  which 
was  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  State,  as  well  as  the 
thirty  bonds  which  they  received  from  the  said  John  D. 
Whiteside,  and  also  the  forty-one  bonds  received  from 
Nevins,  Townsend  & Co. — the  three  last  mentioned  sums, 
one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
dollars  and  forty-four  cents  over  and  above  the  eight  hun- 
dred and  four  interest  bonds  first  received  by  them — 
making  in  all,  the  sum  of  nine  hundred  and  thirteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars  forty-four  cents, 
which  the  said  Macallister  & Stebbins  acknowledged  in 
their  account  current  rendered  the  State  at  the  session 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  1842,  (see  report,  page  197), 
was  held  as  security  for  the  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  dollars  eighty-three  cents, 
actually  advanced  as  aforesaid,  that  sum  being  but  twenty- 
eight  and  sixty-four-hundredths  of  a cent  upon  the  dollar 
so  as  aforesaid  received  by  them.” 

Section  one  of  this  act  reads  as  follows: 

“That  upon  the  surrender  to  the  State  by  the  said  Mac- 
allister & Stebbins,  or  any  person  authorized  by  them, 
of  the  eight  hundred  and  four  interest  bonds  of  one 
thousand  dollars  each,  with  their  coupons,  hypothecated 
with  them,  on  17th  June,  1841,  and  now  outstanding 
against  the  State,  and  also  other  internal  improvement 
bonds  and  scrip  subsequently  obtained,  and  amounting  at 
the  time  they  obtained  them  to  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen  dollars  forty- 
four  cents,  over  and  above  the  eight  hundred  and  four 
interest  bonds  first  received  by  them  as  aforesaid,  with 
the  coupons  on  said  bonds,  and  interest  on  said  scrip  from 
its  date  to  the  time  of  settlement  under  this  act,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  issue  bonds  of  not  less 
than  one  thousand  dollars  each,  and  payable  after  the 


396 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


year  1865,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  per 
annum,  and  payable  semi-annually  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  pro  rata  out  of  the  interest  fund,  and  the  balance 
of  the  interest  to  be  paid  out  of  the  State  treasury.  The 
amount  of  bonds  to  be  issued  by  the  Governor  as  afore- 
said to  be  equal  to  the  balance  remaining  due  the  said 
Macallister  & Stebbins,  principal  and  interest,  at  the  rate 
of  seven  per  cent,  per  annum,  (as  per  contract)  upon  the 
advance  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  five  hun- 
dred sixty  dollars  eighty-three  cents,  from  the  date  of 
said  advance  up  to  the  time  of  settlement  under  the  pro- 
visions of  this  act.  And  should  the  said  Macallister  & 
Stebbins  not  surrender  to  the  Governor  all  of  the  eight 
hundred  and  four  bonds,  the  amount  they  shall  fail  to 
surrender,  and  being  the  same  heretofore  taken  up  by  the 
State,  shall  be  credited  to  the  State  and  deducted  from 
the  amount  found  due  from  the  time  they  shall  have  been 
taken  up  by  the  State,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-six  cents  on 
the  dollar : Provided , that  no  bonds  shall  be  issued  by  the 
Governor  as  aforesaid,  except  upon  the  surrender  to  the 
State  of  the  bonds  of  1865,  or  of  the  internal  improve- 
ment bonds,  or  of  the  scrip  as  aforesaid,  to  an  amount 
which  the  whole  amount  of  bonds  and  scrip  now  out- 
standing bear  to  the  amount  of  new  bonds  which  may  be 
issued,  upon  the  settlement  of  the  account  of  Macallister 
& Stebbins — it  being  the  intention  of  this  bill  to  authorize 
the  Governor  to  issue  liquidation  bonds  at  any  time  when 
an  amount  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  the 
aforesaid  bonds,  deposited  with  Macallister  & Stebbins, 
shall  be  surrendered  by  them  or  by  their  order.”  (See 
Public  Laws  of  1849.) 

Under  a supplemental  act,  approved  February  16,  1865, 
the  holders  of  the  so-called  Macallister  & Stebbins  bonds 
were  required  to  surrender  the  same  by  July  1,  1865, 
under  certain  penalties,  or  by  January  1,  1866,  under 
other  and  heavier  penalties.  (See  Public  Laws  of  1865.) 
Under  this  act  all  these  bonds  have  been  called  in,  and 
the  just  amount  due  on  them  paid  in  full;  hence  there 
is  no  foundation  in  fact  for  the  claim  filed  in  the  name 
of  Macallister  & Stebbins,  and  we  are  more  than  war- 
ranted in  saying  that  the  State  paid  in  full,  principal  and 
interest,  the  enormous  debt  incurred  under  the  internal 
improvement  system  of  1887. 


of  Funds  of  the  State  of  Illinois  from  Dec . I,  1839 , to  Oct.  1,  1882 , compiled  and 
classified  by  Auditor;  also  Statement  of  State  Debt. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


397 


: — rv — t 

State  Debt. 

Amount. 

$12,000,000  0 

15,000,000  0 

16,  724,177  4 

13,994,614  9 

12,834,144  8 

11,138,453  9 

10,346,017  0 

5,124,995  6 

4,890,937  3 

2,060,150  6 

1,730,972  1 

1,480,600  2 

802,312  5 

281,059  1 

None. 

1 

1840 

1850 

1853 

1855 

1857 

1859 

1860 

1869 

1870 

1872 

1874 

1876 

1878 

1880 

1881 

Total. 

$208,743  77 
373,363  26 
332,836  29 
330,164  48 
670,449  41 
640,287  01 
1, 199,903  75 

2,117,999  74 

3,687,306  61 

5,094,688  97 

5,023,061  52 

8,438,589  74 

4,568,774  01 

6,514,383  47 

7,411,056  05 

3,816,831  65 

2,994,884  05 

11,023.868  63 

8,749,312  79 

5,618,011  06 

6,581,804  12 

6,311,655  08 

6,210,357  52 

$97,918,332  98 

Miscella- 

neous. 

::::::::  iSSRSgasSSffiSSSS 

! I ! i i i ! i :ilIglis!s§S£§f 
i ! i i i M i isiiiisiisslsis 

: ; *h*t 

£ 

£ 

sf 

i 

Educa- 

tional. 

$44,934  36 
85,098  75 
104, 610  28 
53,931  33 
110,677  80 
152,052  06 
152,111  69 
210,309  84 
1,466,954  08 
1,728,981  12 
1,641,525  54 
1,485,839  04 
1,476,973  86 
1,723,848  86 
1,966,691  60 
1,185,459  13 
1,072,838  45 
2,413,581  31 
2,236,171  43 
2,129,332  18 
2,312,156  38 

2,273,053  76 

2,291,96 6 15 

o 

0 

1 
i 

DpeSUSr 

Works. 

'***$42," 350*66 

62,000  00 
236,632  96 
266,816  75 
731,269  12 
1,495,087  79 
1,791,318  19 
2,707,990  34 
2,641,128  12 
2,040,833  75 
1,739,532  26 
2,169,425  06 
2,390,596  74 
1,203,866  11 
522,879  28 
5,222,041  32 
2,631,457  96 
756, 503  59 
980, 148  86 
644,428  86 
271,407  35 

$30,547,714  41 

Judicial. 

$17,462  50 
31,841  43 
30,567  92 
31,453  16 
36,800  89 
42,902  78 
47,790  36 
68,638  20 
80,102  61 
87,824  33 
131,033  63 
114,230  52 
118,604  17 
143,851  27 
138,650  81 
105,865  24 
124,948  94 
394,252  62 
451,488  14 
380,000  78 
476,915  74 
557,994  20 
560, 615  64 

$4,173,835  88 

Executive. 

$77,492  35 
131,641  00 
107,597  91 
112,882  83 
134,994  35 
138,013  79 
228,540  48 
275,708  46 
282,191  46 
259,440  23 
156,744  48 
264,254  79 
177,242  10 
416,946  48 
416,420  04 
210,924  49 
106,847  66 
180, 158  74 
259, 780  55 
214,934  11 
>339,627  38 
278,280  12 
323,740  04 

$5,094,403  84 

Legislative 

$68,854  56 
82,432  08 
90,060  18 
69,897  16 
151,343  41 
40,501  63 
40,192  10 
68,255  45 
66,740  27 
96,786  29 
68,376  64 
176,584  91 
79,636  39 
200,064  87 
323,884  48 
291,614  83 
230,975  76 
693,062  92 
539,390  83 
221,810  74 
321,580  63 
295,040  27 
367,959  24 

$4,585,045  64 

Time. 

Dec.  1,1839,  to  Dec.  1,1840 
“ 1,1840,  “ 1,1842 

“ 1,1842,  “ 1,1844 

“ 1,1844,  41  1,1846 

4 4 1,  1846,  4 4 1,  1848 

4 4 1,1848,  44  1,1850 

4 4 1,  1850,  44  1,1852 

44  1,1852,  44  1,1854 

4i  1,1854,  44  1,1856 

44  1,1856,  44  1,1858 

44  1,1858.  44  1,1860 

4 4 1,  1860,  44  1,  1862 

44  1,1862,  44  1,1864 

44  1,1864,  44  1,1866 

44  1,1866,  44  1,1868 

44  1,1868,  4 4 1,1869 

44  1,  1869,  4 4 1,  1870 

4 4 1,  1870,  4 4 1,  1872 

4 4 1,  1872,  44  1,1874 

4 4 1,1874,  to  Oct.  1,1876 
Oct.  1,1876,  “ 1,1878 

“ 1,  1878,  44  1,1880 

44  1,  1880,  44  1,1882 

Totals 

398 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  LII. 

SPEECH  OF  ROBERT  G,  INGERSOLL, 


Nominating  James  G.  Blaine  for  the  Presidency,  at  the  Republican  Na- 
tional Convention,  at  Cincinnati,  June,  1876. 


Massachusetts  may  be  satisfied  with  the  loyalty  of 
Benjamin  H.  Bristow;  so  am  I;  but  if  any  man  nom- 
inated by  this  convention  can  not  carry  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  I am  not  satisfied  with  the  loyalty  of  that 
State.  If  the  nominee  of  this  convention  can  not  carry 
the  grand  old  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  by  seventy- 
five  thousand  majority,  I would  advise  them  to  sell  out 
Faneuil  Hall  as  a Democratic  headquarters.  I would 
advise  them  to  take  from  Bunker  Hill  that  old  monu- 
ment of  glory. 

The  Bepublicans  of  the  United  States  demand  as  their 
leader  in  the  great  contest  of  1876  a man  of  intelligence,  a 
man  of  integrity,  a man  of  well-known  and  approved  polit- 
ical opinions.  They  demand  a statesman ; they  demand  a 
reformer  after,  as  well  as  before,  the  election.  They  de- 
mand a politician  in  the  highest,  broadest  and  best  sense 
— a man  of  superb  moral  courage.  They  demand  a man 
acquainted  with  public  affairs— with  the  wants  of  the 
people,  with  not  only  the  requirements  of  the  hour,  but 
with  the  demands  of  the  future.  They  demand  a man 
broad  enough  to  comprehend  the  relations  of  this  govern- 
ment to  the  other  nations  of  the  earth.  They  demand  a 
man  well  versed  in  the  powers,  duties,  and  prerogatives  of 
each  and  every  department  of  this  governmant.  They 
demand  a man  who  will  sacredly  preserve  the  financial 
honor  of  the  United  States ; one  who  knows  enough  to 
know  that  the  National  debt  must  be  paid  through  the 
prosperity  of  this  people;  one  who  knows  enough  to  know 
that  all  the  financial  theories  in  the  world  can  not  redeem 
a single  dollar;  one  who  knows  enough  to  know  that  all 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


399 


the  money  must  be  made,  not  by  law,  but  by  labor;  one 
who  knows  enough  to  know  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  the  industry  to  make  the  money,  and  the 
honor  to  pay  it  over  just  as  fast  as  they  make  it. 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  demand  a man 
who  knows  that  prosperity  and  resumption,  when  they 
come,  must  come  together;  that  when  they  come,  they 
will  come  hand  in  hand  through  the  golden  harvest  fields ; 
hand  in . hand  by  the  whirling  spindles  and  the  turning 
wheels ; hand  in  hand  past  the  open  furnace  doors ; hand 
in  hand  by  the  flaming  forges ; hand  in  hand  by  the 
chimneys  filled  with  eager  fire,  greeted  and  grasped  by  the 
countless  sons  of  toil. 

This  money  has  to  be  dug  out  of  the  earth.  You  can 
not  make  it  by  passing  resolutions  in  a political  con- 
vention. 

The  Republicans  of  the  United  States  want  a man  who 
knows  that  this  government  should  protect  every  citizen, 
at  home  and  abroad;  who  knows  that  any  government 
that  will  not  defend  its  defenders,  and  protect  its  protec- 
tors, is  a disgrace  to  the  map  of  the  world.  They  demand 
a man  who  believes  in  the  eternal  separation  and  divorce- 
ment of  church  and  school.  They  demand  a man  whose 
political  reputation  is  spotless  as  a star ; but  they  do  not 
demand  that  their  candidate  shall  have  a certificate  of  moral 
character  signed  by  a confederate  congress.  The  man  who 
has,  in  full,  heaped  and  rounded  measure,  all  these  splen- 
did qualifications  is  the  present  grand  and  gallant  leader 
of  the  Republican  party — James  G . Blaine. 

Our  country,  crowned  with  the  vast  and  marvelous 
achievements  of  its  first  century,  asks  for  a man  worthy 
of  the  past,  and  prophetic  of  her  future ; asks  for  a man 
who  has  the  audacity  of  genius ; asks  for  a man  who  is 
the  grandest  combination  of  heart,  conscience  and  brain 
beneath  her  flag — such  a man  is  James  G.  Blaine. 

For  the  Republican  host,  led  by  this  intrepid  man,  there 
can  be  no  defeat. 

This  is  a grand  year — a year  filled  with  the  recollec- 
tions of  the  Revolution ; filled  with  proud  and  tender 
memories  of  the  past;  with  the  sacred  legends  of  liberty 
— a year  in  which  the  sons  of  freedom  will  drink  from  the 
fountains  of  enthusiasm ; a year  in  which  the  people  call 
for  a man  who  has  preserved  in  Congress  what  our  soldiers 
won  upon  the  field ; a year  in  which  they  call  for  a man 
who  has  torn  from  the  throat  of  treason  the  tongue  of 
slander — for  the  man  who  has  snatched  the  mask  of 


400 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Democracy  from  the  hideous  face  of  rebellion ; for  the  man 
who,  like  an  intellectual  athlete,  has  stood  in  the  arena 
of  debate  and  challenged  all  comers,  and  who  is  still  a 
total  stranger  to  defeat. 

Like  an  armed  warrior,  like  a plumed  knight,  James  G. 
Blaine  marched  down  the  halls  of  the  American  Congress 
and  threw  his  shining  lance  full  and  fair  against  the 
brazen  foreheads  of  the  defamers  of  his  country  and  the 
maligners  of  his  honor.  For  the  Republican  party  to 
desert  this  gallant  leader  now,  is  as  though  an  army  should 
desert  their  general  upon  the  field  of  battle. 

James  G.  Blaine  is  now  and  has  been  for  years  the 
bearer  of  the  sacred  standard  of  the  Republican  party.  I 
call  it  sacred,  because  no  human  being  can  stand  beneath 
its  folds  without  becoming  and  without  remaining  free. 

Gentlemen  of  the  convention,  in  the  name  of  the  great 
Republic,  the  only  Republic  that  ever  existed  upon  this 
earth;  in  the  name  of  all  her  defenders  and  of  all  her  sup- 
porters; in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers  living;  in  the 
name  of  all  her  soldiers  dead  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
and  in  the  name  of  those  who  perished  in  the  skeleton 
clutch  of  famine  at  Andersonville  and  Libby,  whose  suffer- 
ings he  so  vividly  remembers,  Illinois — Illinois  nominates 
for  the  next  President  of  this  country,  that  prince  of 
parliamentarians — that  leader  of  leaders — James  G.  Blaine. 


CHAPTER  Lin. 

ILLINOIS  AND  THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT. 


Positions  held  in  the  National  Government- Commissioner  of  the  Land 
Office— Clerk  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress— Presidency— Marshal  of 
the  District  of  Columbia— Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court— Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior— Assistant  Attorney-General— Secretary  of  War- 
Commander  of  the  Armies— Lieutenant-General  and  General— Secretary 
of  State— Assistant  Postmaster-General— Solicitor  of  the  Treasury- 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue— Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury-Assistant Secretary  of  the  Interior— Vice-Presidency— Public 
Printer. 


During  the  sixty-six  years  Illinois  has  been  a member 
of  the  National  Union,  she  has  occupied  a conspicuous 


< 


■r  i.. 


UHRAfly 
Ot  THE 

'Tv  (n  i, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


401 


place  in  the  government  of  the  Nation,  and  we  note, 
chronologically,  the  various  positions  her  citizens  have 
filled.  President  Polk  appointed  Richard  M.  Young  Com- 
missioner of  the  Land  Office,  January  6,  1847,  and  he 
was  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  April  17, 
1850,  to  December  1,  1851.  James  C.  Allen  was  Clerk  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  from  December  6,  1857,  to 
February  3,  1860. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected  President  in  1860,  and 
again  in  1864.  Ward  H.  Lamon  was  Marshal  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  from  1861,  to  June,  1865.  David  Davis 
was  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  from  December  8,  1862,  to  1879,  when  he  resigned 
to  accept  the  office  of  United  States  Senator.  Isaac  N. 
Arnold  was  Fifth  Auditor  from  April  29,  1865,  to  Septem- 
ber 26,  1866.  0.  H.  Browning  was  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, under  President  Johnson,  from  September  1,  1866, 
to  March  1868,  a part  of  which  time  he  was  acting  Attor- 
ney General.  John  M.  Schofield  was  Secretary  of  War, 
under  President  Johnson,  from  May  30,  1868,  to  the  close 
of  the  Administration.  T.  Lyle  Dickey  was  Assistant 
Attorney-General,  under  President  Johnson,  from  July,  1868, 
to  the  close  of  the  Administration. 

Illinois  has  furnished,  in  the  person  of  one  man,  U.  S. 
Grant,  Commander  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Lieutenant-General  and  General  of  the  3ame. 
Grant  was  elected  President  in  1868,  and  again  in  1872. 
Elihu  B.  Washburne  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State  by 
President  Grant.  John  A.  Rawlins  was  Secretary  of  War 
under  President  Grant.  Giles  A.  Smith  was  Second  Assis- 
tant Postmaster-General  in  1869.  John  L.  Routt  was  Second 
Assistant  Postmaster-General  in  1871.  Bluford  Wilson  was 
Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  under  the  Administration  of  Grant. 
Green  B.  Raum  was  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  from 
—26 


402 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


August  2,  1876,  to  April  80,  1888.  John  B.  Hawley  was 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  the  Adminis- 
tration of  Hayes.  Horatio  C.  Burchard  was  appointed  by 
President  Hayes  Director  of  the  Mint.  Eobert  T.  Idn- 
coln  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War  by  President  Gar- 
field.  M.  L.  Joslyn  was  appointed  Assistant  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  by  President  Arthur.  David  Davis  was  Presi- 
dent pro  tempore  of  the  Senate  and  acting  Vice-President 
from  October  13,  1881,  to  March  3,  1883.  S.  P.  Eounds 
was  appointed,  by  President  Arthur,  Public  Printer  in 
April,  1882. 

Of  the  thirty-eight  States,  but  nine  have  been  honored 
with  the  Presidency,  and  but  two  have  held  the  office  more 
times  than  Illinois.  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison  and 
Monroe  were  from  Virginia,  each  of  whom  served  two 
terms.  Vice-President  Tyler  was  from  Virginia,  and  he 
succeeded  to  the  Presidency  in  April,  1841,  after  the  death 
of  Harrison.  Jackson  and  Polk  were  from  Tennessee, 
Jackson  was  twice  elected  and  Polk  once.  Vice-President 
Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  became  President  in  April,  1865, 
on  the  death  of  Lincoln  by  assassination. 

Of  the  other  States,  John  Adams  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  were  from  Massachusetts;  Van  Buren  was  from 
New  York ; Vice-Presidents  Fillmore  and  Arthur  were  from 
New  York;  Fillmore  became  President  in  July,  1850,  on 
the  death  of  Taylor,  and  Arthur  in  September,  1881,  on 
the  death  of  Garfield,  by  assassination.  Pierce  was  from 
New  Hampshire;  Buchanan  from  Pennsylvania;  Hayes 
and  Garfield  from  Ohio. 

The  Presidential  chair  has  been  occupied,  up  to  this 
period,  by  seventeen  different  persons,  who  were  elected 
President,  and  by  four  who  were  elected  Vice-President. 

It  will  ever  remain  a proud  fact  in  history,  that  Illi- 
nois furnished  the  Nation,  during  the  momentous  strug- 
gle of  1861-65,  with  a statesman  and  a warrior  whose 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


403 


ability,  sagacity  and  patriotism  were  equal  to  the  greatest 
emergency,  and  that  they  carried  the  country  triumphantly 
through  the  most  stupendous  rebellion  that  has  ever 
existed  in  the  tide  of  time. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

SPEECH  OF  ROSCOE  CONKLING, 


Nominating  Ulysses  S.  Grant  for  the  Presidency  before  the  National 
^Republican  Convention,  at  Chicago,  in  June,  1880. 


" 'And  when  asked  what  State  he  hails  from, 

Our  sole  reply  shall  be, 

He  hails  from  Appomattox 
And  its  famous  apple-tree.’ 

“ In  obedience  to  instructions  which  I should  never  dare 
to  disregard,  expressing  also  my  own  firm  convictions,  I 
rise,  Mr.  President,  in  behalf  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
to  propose  a nomination  with  which  the  country  and  the 
Republican  party  can  grandly  win.  The  election  before 
us  is  the  Austerlitz  of  American  politics.  It  will  decide, 
for  many  years,  whether  the  country  shall  be  Republican 
or  Cossack.  The  supreme  need  of  the  hour  is  not  a can- 
didate who  can  carry  Michigan.  All  Republican  candi- 
dates can  do  that.  The  need  is  not  of  a candidate  popular 
in  the  Territories,  because  the  Territories  have  no  vote.  The 
need  is  of  a candidate  who  can  carry  doubtful  States.  Not 
the  doubtful  States  of  the  North  alone,  but  also  the  doubt- 
ful States  of  the  South,  which  we  have  heard,  if  I under- 
stood aright,  ought  to  take  but  little  or  no  part  here, 
because  the  South  has  nothing  to  give,  but  everything  to 
receive.  The  need  which  urges  itself  on  the  conscience 
and  reason  of  the  Convention  is  of  a candidate  who  can 
carry  doubtful  States,  both  North  and  South.  And  be- 
lieving that  he,  more  surely  than  any  other  man,  can 


404 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


carry  New  York  against  any  opponent,  and  can  carry 
not  only  the  North,  but  several  States  of  the  South,  New 
York  is  for  Ulysses  S.  Grant. 

“ Never  defeated — in  peace  or  in  war — his  name  is  the 
most  illustrious  borne  by  living  man. 

“ His  services  attest  his  greatness,  and  the  country — 
nay,  the  world — knows  them  by  heart.  His  fame  was 
earned  not  alone  by  things  written  and  said,  but  by  the 
arduous  greatness  of  things  done;  and  perils  and  emergen- 
cies will  search  in  vain  in  the  future,  as  they  have  searched  in 
vain  in  the  past,  for  any  other  on  whom  the  Nation  leans  with 
such  confidence  and  trust.  Never  having  had  a policy  to 
enforce  against  the  will  of  the  people,  he  never  betrayed  a 
cause  or  a friend,  and  the  people  will  never  desert  or 
betray  him.  Standing  on  the  highest  eminence  of  human 
distinction,  modest,  firm,  simple,  and  self-poised,  having 
filled  all  lands  with  his  renown,  he  has  seen  not  only  the 
high-born  and  the  titled,  but  the  poor  and  lowly,  in  the 
uttermost  ends  of  the  earth,  rise  and  uncover  before  him. 
He  has  studied  the  needs  and  the  defects  of  many  sys- 
tems of  government,  and  he  has  returned  a better  Amer- 
ican than  ever,  with  a wealth  of  knowledge  and  experience 
added  to  the  hard  common  sense  which  shone  so  con- 
spicuously in  all  the  fierce  light  that  beat  upon  him 
during  sixteen  years  the  most  trying,  the  most  porten- 
tious,  the  most  perilous  in  the  Nation’s  history. 

“ Vilified  and  reviled,  ruthlessly  aspersed  by  unnum- 
bered presses,  not  in  other  lands,  but  in  his  own,  assaults 
upon  him  have  seasoned  and  strengthened  his  hold  on 
the  public  heart.  Calumny’s  ammunition  has  all  been 
exploded ; the  powder  has  all  been  burned  once — its  force 
is  spent — and  the  name  of  Grant  will  glitter,  a bright  and 
imperishable  star  in  the  diadem  of  the  Republic,  when 
those  who  have  tried  to  tarnish  it  have  mouldered  in  for- 
gotten graves  ; and  when  their  memories  and  their  epitaphs 
have  vanished  utterly. 

44  Never  elated  by  success,  never  depressed  by  adversity, 
he  has  ever,  in  peace  as  in  war,  shown  the  very  genius 
of  common  sense.  The  terms  he  presented  for  Lee’s  sur- 
render foreshadowed  the  wisest  prophecies  and  principles 
of  true  reconstruction.  Victor  in  the  greatest  war  of 
modern  times,  he  quickly  signalized  his  aversion  to  war 
and  his  love  for  peace  by  an  arbitration  of  international 
disputes,  which  stands  the  wisest,  the  most  majestic  ex- 
ample of  its  kind  in  the  world’s  diplomacy. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


405 


“When  inflation,  at  the  hight  of  its  popularity  and 
frenzy,  had  swept  both  houses  of  Congress,  it  was  the 
veto  of  Grant,  single  and  alone,  which  overthrew  expan- 
sion, and  cleared  the  way  for  specie  resumption.  To  him, 
immeasurably  more  than  any  other  man,  is  due  the  fact 
that  every  paper  dollar  is  at  last  as  good  as  gold. 

“ With  him  as  our  leader,  we  shall  have  no  defensive 
campaign.  We  shall  have  nothing  to  explain  away.  We 
shall  have  no  apologies  to  make.  The  shafts  and  arrows 
have  all  been  aimed  at  him,  and  they  lie,  broken  and 
harmless,  at  his  feet. 

“ Life,  liberty  and  property  will  find  a safeguard  in 
him.  When  he  said  of  the  colored  men  in  Florida, 
‘Wherever  I am,  they  may  come  also/  he  meant  that, 
had  he  the  power,  the  poor  dwellers  in  the  cabins  of  the 
South  should  no  longer  be  driven  in  terror  from  the  homes 
of  their  childhood  and  the  graves  of  their  murdered  dead. 
When  he  refused  to  receive  Dennis  Kearney  in  California, 
he  meant  that  communism,  lawlessness  and  disorder,  al- 
though it  might  stalk  high-headed  and  dictate  law  to  a 
whole  city,  would  always  find  a foe  in  him.  He  meant 
that,  popular  or  unpopular,  he  would  hew  to  the  line  of 
right,  let  the  chips  fly  where  they  may. 

“His  integrity,  his  common  sense,  his  courage,  his  un- 
equaled experience,  are  the  qualities  offered  to  his  country. 
The  only  argument — the  only  one — that  the  wit  of  man  or 
the  stress  of  politics  has  devised,  is  one  which  would  dumb- 
founder  Solomon,  because  Solomon  thought  there  was 
nothing  new  under  the  sun.  Having  tried  Grant  twice 
and  found  him  faithful,  we  are  told  that  we  must  not, 
even  after  an  interval  of  years,  trust  him  again.  My 
countrymen  ! — my  countrymen  ! — what  stultification  does 
not  such  a fallacy  involve.  The  American  people  exclude. 
Jefferson  Davis  from  public  trust.  Why?  Because  he 
was  the  arch-traitor  and  would-be  destroyer.  And  now 
the  same  people  is  asked  to  ostracise  Grant,  and  not  to 
trust  him!  Why?  Why?  I repeat.  Because  he  was  the 
arch-preserver  of  his  country,  and  because,  not  only  in 
war,  but  twice  as  Civil  Magistrate,  he  gave  his  highest, 
noblest  efforts  to  the  Republic.  Is  this  an  electioneering 
juggle  or  is  it  hypocrisy’s  masquerade?  There  is  no  field 
of  human  activity,  responsibility  or  reason  in  which  rational 
beings  object  to  an  agent  because  he  has  been  weighed 
in  the  balance  and  not  found  wanting.  There  is,  I say, 
no  department  of  human  reason  in  which  sane  men  reject 
an  agent  because  he  has  had  experience,  making  him 


406 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


exceptionally  competent  and  fit.  From  the  man  who  shoes 
your  horse  to  the  lawyer  who  tries  your  cause,  the  officer 
who  manages  your  railway  or  your  mill,  the  doctor  into 
whose  hands  you  give  your  life,  or  the  minister  who  seeks 
to  save  your  soul — what  man  do  you  reject  because  by  his 
works  you  have  known  him,  and  found  him  faithful  and  fit  ? 

“What  makes  the  Presidential  office  an  exception  to  all 
things  else  in  the  common  sense  to  be  applied  to  select- 
ing its  incumbent  ? Who  dares  to  put  fetters  on  that  free 
choice  and  judgment  which  is  the  birth-right  of  the 
American  people?  Can  it  be  said  that  Grant  has  used 
official  power  and  place  to  perpetuate  his  term?  He  has 
no  place,  and  official  power  has  not  been  used  for  him. 
Without  patronage,  without  emissaries,  without  commit- 
tees, without  bureaus,  without  telegraph  wires  running  from 
his  house  or  from  the  seats  of  influence  to  this  Conven- 
tion, without  appliances,  without  electioneering  contri- 
vances, without  effort  on  his  part,  Grant’s  name  is  on  his 
country’s  lips.  He  is  struck  at  by  the  whole  Democratic 
party,  because  his  nomination  is  the  death-blow  of  Dem- 
ocratic success.  He  is  struck  at  by  others,  who  find  an 
offense  and  disqualification  in  the  very  services  he  has 
rendered  and  the  very  experience  he  has  gained.  Show 
me  a better  man.  Name  one,  and  I am  answered.  But 
do  not  point  as  a disqualification  to  the  very  experience 
which  makes  this  man  fit  beyond  all  others. 

“There  is  no  ‘third  term’  in  the  case,  and  the  pretense 
will  die  with  the  political  dog-days  that  gendered  it.  One 
week  after  the  Democratic  Convention  we  shall  have  heard 
the  last  of  this  rubbish  about  a ‘third  term.’  Nobody  now 
is  really  disquieted  about  a third  term  except  those  hope- 
lessly longing  for  a first  term,  and  their  dupes  and  co- 
adjutors. Without  effort  or  intrigue  on  his  part,  he  is  the 
candidate  whose  friends  have  never  threatened  to  bolt  un- 
less this  convention  did  as  they  said.  He  is  a Republi- 
can who  never  wavers.  He  and  his  friends  stand  by  the 
creed  and  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party.  They 
hold  the  rightful  rule  of  the  majority  as  the  very  essence 
of  their  faith  against  not  only  the  common  enemy,  but 
against  the  charlatans,  jayhawkers,  tramps  and  guerillas 
who  deploy  between  the  lines  and  forage,  now  on  one  side 
and  then  on  the  other.  The  convention  is  master  of  a 
supreme  opportunity.  It  can  name  the  next  President  of 
the  United  States.  It  can  make  sure  of  his  election.  It 
can  make  sure  not  only  of  his  election,  but  of  his  certain 
and  peaceful  inauguration. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


407 


“It  can  assure  a Republican  majority  in  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives.  More  than  all,  it  can  break 
that  power  which  dominates  and  mildews  the  South.  It 
can  overthrow  an  organization  whose  very  existence  is  a 
standing  protest  against  progress. 

“ The  purpose  of  the  Democratic  party  is  spoils.  Its 
very  hope  and  existence  is  a solid  South.  Its  success  is 
a menace  to  order  and  prosperity.  This  convention  can 
overthrow  and  disintegrate  these  hurtful  forces.  It  can 
dissolve  and  emancipate  a distracted  ‘solid  South.’  It  can 
speed  the  Nation  in  a career  of  grandeur  eclipsing  all  past 
achievements.  Gentlemen,  we  have  only  to  listen  above 
the  din  and  look  beyond  the  dust  of  an  hour,  to  behold 
the  Republican  party  advancing,  with  its  ensigns  resplen- 
dent with  illustrious  achievements,  marching  to  certain 
and  lasting  victory  with  its  greatest  Marshal  at  its  head.” 


CHAPTER  LV. 

OUR  STATE  BANKS. 

What  the  People  Lost  when  they  went  into  Liquidation. 


Next  in  importance  to  the  change  which  took  place  in 
the  political  status  of  the  negro  on  the  advent  of  the  Re- 
publican party  into  power  in  the  State  and  Nation,  was 
the  overthrow  of  our  State  banking  system.  At  the  time 
the  war  ensued  there  were  one  hundred  and  ten  of  these 
institutions  in  operation,  with  eleven  suspended. 

The  more  remote  the  banks  were  from  the  commercial 
centers  the  better  they  were  supposed  to  be.  But  when 
the  financial  crash  of  1861  came,  but  few  of  them  stood 
the  test  of  honesty  and  fair  dealing.  The  officers  closed 
their  doors  with  impunity,  leaving  the  bill-holders  to  help 
■themselves  as  best  they  could.  Even  in  the  best  days  of 


408 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


their  existence  business  men  were  compelled  to  keep  in 
their  possession  all  the  known  counterfeit  detectives  then 
printed,  and  they  were  legion.  First,  for  the  purpose  of 
judging  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  notes,  and,  secondly, 
to  learn  their  commercial  value,  which  varied  in  amount 
from  nothing  to  par.  During  the  war  all  these  banks  went 
into  liquidation.  Their  circulation,  November  80,  1860, 
as  shown  by  the  biennial  report  of  the  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts,  was  $12,820,694.  The  records  of  the  x\uditor’s 
office  show  that  in  closing  up  these  banks  there  was  a 
loss  of  35  per  cent,  on  the  dollar,  amounting  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  $4,312,242. 

The  older  citizens  will  fully  attest  the  truth  of  our  re- 
marks regarding  the  character  of  these  banks,  and  we 
imagine  they  would  as  soon  think  of  the  re-enslavement 
of  the  colored  man  as  to  consider  the  question  of  return- 
ing to  the  State  banking  system. 


CHAPTER  LVL 


What  Owen  Lovejoy  Could  Not  Do— LawT-Making  Under  the  Constitution 

Of  1848. 


What  Owen  Lovejoy  Could  Not  Do. 

Closing  a political  address  to  an  immense  audience  at 
Jacksonville,  in  1860,  Owen  Lovejoy  paid  an  eloquent  eulogy 
to  the  Constitution  and  the  Flag  of  the  United  States,  but 
said  he,  “grand  as  is  that  Constitution  and  that  Flag,  prom- 
ising protection  to  all,  there  are  fifteen  States  in  this  Union 
professing  allegiance  to  that  Constitution  and  Flag,  in 
which  I can  not  go  in  safety.  I am  an  order-loving,  law- 
abiding  man,  but  it  would  cost  me  my  life  to  go  into  any  of 
their  hotels  and  set  down  my  unoffending  valise  labeled 
“ ‘Owen  Lovejoy,  Princeton,  Illinois.’  ” 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


409 


Law-making  under  the  Constitution  of  1848. 

Under  the  Constitution  of  1818,  Special  Legislation  was 
the  great  evil  of  the  General  Assembly.  Under  the  private 
law  system  every  imaginary  scheme  of  speculation  was 
legislated  upon  which  brought  to  each  Assembly  what  was 
known  as  a third  house,  where  these  bills  were  first  prepar- 
ed. The  truth  is,  three-fourths  of  the  time  of  a session  was 
occupied  with  special  legislation.  Illustrative  of  how  busi- 
ness of  this  character  was  done,  we  note  the  fact,  that  in 
1869  there  were  passed,  of  public  laws,  a volume  of  379  pages, 
while  there  were  four  volumes  of  the  private  laws,  aggregat- 
ing 3354  pages.  Under  the  Constitution  of  1870,  it  wTas 
provided  that  all  laws  should  be  general  in  character.  This 
was  a radical  change,  as  may  easily  be  seen.  If  we  except 
the  first  Legislature,  which  convened  in  1871  to  frame  laws 
to  conform  to  the  new  Constitution,  the  session  of  1885  was 
the  longest  ever  held  in  the  State,  but  even  then  all  the 
laws  passed  were  comprised  in  a volume  of  222  pages. 
The  wisdom  of  the  new  Constitution  was  t^wo-fold  in  this 
respect.  It  has  prevented  much  unnecessary  and  expen- 
sive legislation,  and  at  the  same  time  broken  up  a pernicious 
lobby  system. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

TEMPERANCE  LEGISLATION. 

The  control  of  the  traffic  of  spirituous  liquors  has  ever 
been  a source  of  great  concern  to  a very  large  portion  of 
our  law-abiding  citizens,  and  the  question  has  been  pre- 
sented to  our  law-makers  in  many  ways ; sometimes  in 


410 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


the  form  of  an  application  for  a prohibitory  law;  some- 
times for  a low-license  law;  sometimes  for  a high-license 
law;  sometimes  for  an  amendment  to  the  constitution, 
allowing  women  the  right  to  vote  upon  the  question  of 
license,  and  sometimes  for  an  amendment  to  the  constitution 
prohibiting  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirituous  or  malt 
liquors  as  a beverage;  and  hence  there  has  been,  from  first 
to  last,  much  legislation  upon  the  subject. 

In  1851,  the  General  Assembly  passed  what  is  known 
as  the  “quart  law,”  the  purpose  of  which -was  to  do  away 
with  what  were  termed  “dram  shops.”  This  did  not  meet 
the  demands  of  the  people,  and  in  1855  the  General  As- 
sembly passed  a prohibitory  act.  It  was  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  of  the  State,  and  rejected.  Since  then 
we  have  had  the  license  system  and  local  option;  but  all 
the  while  there  has  been  more  or  less  agitation  in  favor 
of  prohibition;  but  no  General  Assembly  has  seemed 
willing  to  allow  the  people  to  vote  upon  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution  giving  women  the  right  to  vote  upon 
the  question  of  license  or  of  amendment  to  the  constitu- 
tion, so  as  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirit- 
uous liquors  as  a beverage. 

In  March,  1879,  a committee  of  ladies,  representing  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  waited  upon  the 
General  Assembly  with  the  view  of  securing  the  passage 
of  a law  allowing  women  to  vote  in  matters  relating  to 
the  sale  of  spirituous  or  malt  liquors  as  a beverage.  The 
following  persons  composed  that  committee: 

Miss  Francis  E.  Willard,  president  of  W.  C.  T.  U.  of 
Illinois ; Mrs.  T.  B.  Carse,  president  of  Chicago  W.  C.  T. 
U. ; Mrs.  L.  A.  Hagans,  Mrs.  Willis  A.  Barnes,  Mrs.  C. 
H.  Case,  Mrs.  D.  J.  True,  Chicago;  Mrs.  Prof.  Fry  and 
Mrs.  A.  B.  Biggs,  of  Bloomington;  Mrs.  C.  H,  St.  John, 
of  Eureka;  Mrs.  M.  H.  Villars,  of  Pana;  Miss  Mary  A, 
West,  of  Galesburg ; Mrs.  E.  W.  Kirkpatrick,  of  Monmouth ; 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


411 


Mrs.  H.  A.  Calkins  and  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hibben,  of  Peo- 
ria; Mrs.  M.  L.  Wells,  Mrs.  R.  Beach  and  Mrs.  H.  A. 
Allyn,  of  Springfield ; Mrs.  R.  Greenlee,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Cum- 
mings, Mrs.  J.  B.  Hobbs  and  Miss  Lucia  Kimball,  of 
Chicago ; Mrs.  G.  H.  Read,  of  Bloomington ; Mrs.  H.  W. 
Harwood  and  Mrs.  H.  C.  Cullom,  of  Joliet;  Mrs.  S.  P. 
Mooney,  of  Pana;  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry,  of  Rockford;  and 
Mrs.  M.  A.  Taliafero,  of  Keithsburg. 

The  committee  was  armed  with  a petition  which  con- 
tained the  signatures  of  80,000  voters  and  100,000  women. 
On  the  6th  of  March,  on  behalf  of  the  ladies,  the  petition 
was  presented  to  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Andrew 
Hinds,  of  Stephenson,  in  an  address  of  some  length,  and 
on  motion  of  Solomon  P.  Hopkins,  of  Cook,  Miss  Willard 
and  Mrs.  Foster,  a lawyer,  of  Clinton,  Iowa,  were  invited 
to  address  the  House.  This  was  the  first  time  a woman 
was  ever  permitted  to  speak  in  an  Illinois  legislative 
body. 

Subsequently,  a bill  was  prepared  and  introduced  into 
the  House,  providing  an  amendment  to  the  constitution 
to  allow  women  over  21  years  to  be  registered  the  same 
as  voters,  and  further  providing  that  before  a saloon- 
keeper could  open  a saloon  he  should  be  able  to  prove 
to  the  municipal  authorities  that  he  had  secured  the  sig- 
natures of  a majority  of  both  men  and  women,  over  21 
years  of  age,  in  the  community  in  which  he  proposed  to 
do  business.  Mr.  Hinds  presented  the  bill,  and  was  man- 
fully supported  by  many  of  the  members.  On  the  30th 
of  May  it  reached  a third  reading,  when  it  was  lost,  by 
a vote  of  58  yeas  to  55  nays. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  the  same  petition  was  presented 
to  the  Senate  by  the  same  committee,  through  Mr.  Tal- 
iafero. An  objection  being  made  to  allowing  the  ladies 
to  speak  while  the  Senate  was  in  session,  on  motion,  a 
recess  was  taken  for  thirty  minutes,  24  Senators  voting 


412 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


for,  and  19  against.  The  time  was  occupied  by  Miss, 
Willard  in  an  address  of  much  earnestness,  and  here  the 
question  rested  for  that  session. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1881, 
the  same  bill  was  introduced,  with  a similar  fate.  But 
although  the  Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  met 
with  two  signal  defeats,  their  labors  bore  good  fruit. 
They  stirred  the  people  all  over  the  State  to  action,  and 
when  the  General  Assembly  of  1883  came  together,  one 
of  the  very  first  bills  introduced  was  that  of  Representa- 
tive Harper,  fixing  a uniform  system  of  license  at  $500. 
It  became  a party  measure,  the  Republicans  favoring  its 
passage,  and  the  Democrats  opposing.  It  continued  the 
subject  of  earnest  discussion  during  the  entire  session,, 
and  on  the  8th  of  June,  passed  the  House  by  a bare  con- 
stitutional majority.  The  journals  of  the  House  show 
that  70  Republicans  and  9 Democrats  voted  for  the  bill, 
and  that  51  Democrats  and  4 Republicans  voted  against  it* 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  June  15,  by  a vote  of  30 
ayes  to  20  noes — 29  Republicans  and  1 Democrat  voted 
for  it,  and  19  Democrats  and  1 Republican  against  it. 
An  hour  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  it  received  the  ap- 
proval of  Gov.  Hamilton,  who  had  heartily  co-operated 
with  the  friends  of  the  measure,  in  securing  its  passage, 
from  the  first. 

The  validity  of  the  law  has  been  passed  upon  by  thfr 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  which  body  pronounced  it 
constitutional,  which  has  removed  all  doubts  as  to  it& 
enforcement. 

The  law  has  given  universal  satisfaction.  During  the  fis- 
cal year  ending  April  30,  1883,  the  year  before  the  law  went 
into  effect,  there  were,  as  shown  by  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Internal  Revenue,  12,521  licensed  saloons  in 
the  State.  For  the  same  period,  ending  April  30,  1886,  the 
Commissioner  reports  10,973. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


413 


CHAPTER  LYE 

INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES. 

Owen  Lovejoy  Egged  in  Bloomington—"  Will  the  Sheriff  call  Mr.  Pffrim- 
mer”— Wentworth  and  Browning— " Till  He  was  Conscripted  ”— U.  E. 
Linder  and  the  “Little  Doctor  ”—“  Celestial  Meridian  of  36°  30”’— “Not 
According  to  Jefferson,  but  the  Gentleman  from  Jefferson”— Trials  Con- 
nected With  Political  Changes— Cook  and  Duncan— How  Col.  Beuben 
Loomis  was  Filled- How  Pinkney  H.  Walker  Became  a Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court— An  Exciting  Political  Episode— “He  Knew  Him  Before 
the  Flood  There  is  no  Use  of  this  Investigation  I was  Born  a 
Barefooted  Boy  ’’—“Torn  Needles  and  John  Bunn  Know  too  D— n Much  to 
Play  Governor”— “Wonderful  Moral  Deformation ”— 1 “ Tell  Old  Hilliard 
to  Come  and  See  Me  Devilish  Quick”— “H  They  will  Let  Me  out  with  as 
Good  Character  as  I Had.” 

Owen  Loyejoy  Egged  in  Bloomington. 

In  1840,  and  while  the  pro- slavery  mob  at  Alton  was 
still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  Owen  Lovejoy  had 
an  appointment  at  Bloomington  to  deliver  an  anti-slavery 
address.  Abolitionists  were  not  very  popular  then  in  any 
portion  of  Illinois,  but  it  was  thought  he  would  have  no 
trouble  in  being  heard  at  Bloomington ; but  when  he  reached 
the  Court  House,  from  which  place  he  was  announced  to 
speak,  it  was  found  that  the  doors  had  been  locked  against 
him,  by  order  of  the  County  Commissioners.  He  had  been 
accompanied  thither  by  George  Dietrich,  Job  Cusey  and 
his  son  John,  then  a youth  of  some  fifteen  years.  Mr. 
Dietrich  was  a Democrat,  but  being  a member  of  the  same 
church  in  which  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  a preacher,  he  felt 
that  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  entitled  to  some  attention,  and 
hence  was  found  in  his  company,  but  it  is  said  that 
Dietrich  never  voted  the  Democratic  ticket  after  that 
day.  On  their  return  from  the  court  house  they  were 
assaulted  with  eggs,  which  was  highly  enjoyed  by  the 


414 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


bystanders.  Seventeen  years  after  that  time,  Owen  Lovejoy 
represented  the  city  of  Bloomington  in  Congress,  and  the 
lad,  John  Cusey,  who  had  been  ostracised  for  having  been 
found  in  the  company  of  an  Abolitionist, , has  since  rep- 
resented McLean  county  in  the  State  Senate,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  State  Board  of  Equalization  from  that  con- 
gressional district. 

“ Will  the  Sheriff  Call  Mr.  Pffrimmer  ? ” 

Thomas  Gr.  C.  Davis,  at  one  time  a citizen  of  Metrop- 
olis, and  member  of  the  Constitutional  convention  of  1847, 
was  a noted  lawyer  of  Southern  Illinois.  It  is  related  of 
him  that  he  was  never  at  a loss  to  supply  a missing  link 
in  the  chain  of  testimony  wherein  his  client  had  a per- 
sonal interest.  There  resided  in  the  place  a gentleman 
whose  name  was  S.  H.  Pffrimmer,  well-known  in  that 
section  as  a good  citizen,  but  a man  who  managed  to  know 
a great  deal  about  other  people’s  business,  and  by  the  way 
a personal  friend  of  Mr.  Davis.  On  occasions  when  the 
missing  link  was  needed  Mr.  Davis  would  rise  to  his  feet 
and  cast  a searching  glance  round  the  court-room  for  his 
witness,  and  not  seeing  him  would  vociferate,  “Will  the 
Sheriff  call  Mr.  Pffrimmer?”  The  habit  was  so  frequent 
that  “ Will  the  Sheriff  call  Mr.  Pffrimmer  ” became  a by- 
word about  the  court-room  and  Mr.  Pffrimmer  was  made 
the  subject  of  many  a pleasant  jest. 

Wentworth  and  Browning. 

This  characteristic  story  of  John  Wentworth  was  related 
to  us  by  Dr.  William  Jayne,  who  was  present  on  the 
occasion.  Before  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
Wentworth  was  a radical  Democrat,  and  while  serving  in 
Congress  with  John  J.  Hardin,  a prominent  Whig,  some  of 
Mr.  Hardin’s  private  correspondence,  in  some  mysterious 
way,  appeared  in  the  public  prints,  and  the  offense  was 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  415 

charged  upon  Wentworth,  and  whether  the  charge  was 
true  or  false  he  was,  for  a long  time,  violently  abused  by 
Hardin,  and  the  Whigs  in  general;  but  when  the  anti- 
slavery men  met  at  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  to  organ- 
ize a new  party,  Mr.  Wentworth  was  welcomed  by  the  old 
line  Whigs  with  the  same  cordiality  as  though  he  had  al- 
ways been  a Whig.  There  he  and  0.  H.  Browning  met 
for  the  first  time;  they  were  introduced  by  Abraham 
Lincoln.  In  taking  the  hand  of  Mr.  Wentworth  Mr. 
Browning  said,  in  his  most  courteous  and  pleasing  man- 
ner, that  he  had  long  known  him  by  reputation  and  was 
proud  to  meet  him,  to  which  Wentworth,  jocosely,  re- 
plied, “ that  is  not  a d — n bit  in  my  favor.”* 

Till  he  was  Conscripted. 

Norman  L.  Freeman,  now  the  able  and  popular  Reporter 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  a resident  of  Shawneetown  in 
1859,  but  subsequently  purchased  a farm  in  Missouri,  and 
removed  there  with  the  hope  of  improving  his  health. 
But  a year  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  he  re- 
turned to  Shawneetown  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law. 
On  handing  in  his  card  to  be  inserted  in  the  local  paper, 
the  publisher  observed  the  letters  “t.  c.,”  and  being  curi- 
ous to  know  their  meaning,  Mr.  Freeman  said  he  wished 
the  card  to  appear  “till  he  was  conscripted.” 

U.  F.  Linder  and  the  “Little  Doctor.” 

U.  F.  Linder  was  one  of  the  great  lawyers  of  Illinois, 
who  was  contemporaneous  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  had  a crowd  around  him  lis- 
tening to  his  jokes.  But  sometimes  the  joke  returned  to 
plague  him. 

About  1856,  he  was  sitting  one  summer  evening  outside 
the  door  of  a hotel  in  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  telling  a com- 
pany of  interested  listeners  of  the  exploits  of  Leonard 
Swett,  one  of  Illinois,  noted  lawyers. 


♦Wentworth  died  Oct.  16,  1888. 


416 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“This  man  Swett,”  said  he,  “is  the  sharpest  lawyer  in 
Illinois.  He  clears  his  man  every  time,  especially  if 
charged  with  murder.” 

“ How  does  he  do  it,  Linder  ? ” ventured  one  of  his 
hearers  to  inquire. 

“ Do  it  ? ” replied  Linder,  “ he  proves  they  are  all  insane 
— every  cursed  man  of  them.” 

“Well,  how  does  he  do  that?” 

“ I’ll  tell  you,  sir.  He  carries  around  with  him  a little 
doctor,  who  knows  all  about  insanity,  and  swears  ’em  all 
crazy  as  loons.  The  jury  comes  in  with  a verdict  of 
insanity  every  time.” 

Then  he  recited  several  cases  which  had  occurred  where 
the  parties  had  been  * thus  acquitted,  when  they  were  really 
“just  as  sane  as  I am,  sir, — just  as  you  are,”  said  Lin- 
der,— “It  just  beats  hell.” 

At  that  moment  a gentleman  who  had  been  sitting  inside, 
but  had  been  an  amused  listener,  walked  outside,  and  offer- 
ing his  hand  to  Linder,  said  : 

“ Good  evening,  Mr.  Linder.  I have  the  honor  to  be 
the  little  doctor  you  are  talking  about, — you  tell  it  very 
well.” 

“ What  might  your  name  be  ? ” said  Linder,  though  he 
knew  very  well. 

“My  name  is  Roe,”  said  the  gentleman. 

“Not  Doctor  Roe,  of  Bloomington?” 

“Yes,  sir,  Doctor  Roe,  of  Bloomington — the  man  you 
call  Swett’s  little  doctor.” 

“ Why,  I know  you,  sir, — of  course  I know  you,  Dr. 
Roe,”  said  Linder.  “My  God,  sir!  are  you  the  man?  I 
beg  your  pardon,  Dr.  Roe.  I did  not  know  that  you  were 
Swett’s  witness.” 

“ Good  God,  sir,  I beg  your  pardon  a thousand  times. 
What  a blunder  I made — indeed,  I did  not  know  the  man 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


417 


was  Dr.  Roe,  of  Bloomington.  My  God ! Doctor,  I can  do 
nothing  else  but  beg  your  pardon — and  I would  not  do  less 
if  I could.  Gentlemen,  if  this  man  ever  swears  I am  in- 
sane, I will  believe  him  myself/’ 

Celestial  Meeidian  of  36°  30'. 

Owen  Lovejoy  was  one  of  the  marked  men  of  the  age 
in  which  he  lived.  In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1860, 
a proposition  was  made  in  a Republican  caucus  by  a Rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  Northern  States,  who  seriously 
deprecated  war  as  a means  of  saving  the  Union,  to  divide 
the  country  from  Missouri  to  the  Pacific  along  the  parallel 
36°  30',  and  to  give  up  the  south  side  to  slavery.  This 
struck  Lovejoy  as  being  supremely  preposterous,  and  he 
was  overheard  to  express  his  disapprobation  of  the  extra- 
ordinary proposition  in  these  words : “ There  never  was 

a more  causeless  revolt  since  Lucifer  led  his  cohorts  of 
apostate  angels  against  the  throne  of  God;  but  I never 
heard  that  the  Almighty  proposed  to  compromise  the  mat- 
ter by  allowing  the  rebels  to  kindle  the  fires  of  hell  south 
of  the  celestial  meridian  of  36°  30'.” 

Accoeding  to  the  Gentleman  feom  Jeffeeson. 

While  Lieut.-Gov.  Hoffman  was  the  presiding  officer  of 
the  Senate,  Ex-Lieut.-Gov.  Zadok  Casey,  of  Jefferson 
county,  was  a member  of  that  body,  and  being  a most 
able  parliamentarian,  Mr.  Hoffman  frequently  deferred  to 
him  when  difficult  questions  of  parliamentary  practice 
arose.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  presiding  officer  had 
thus  sought  the  advice*  of  Gov.  Casey,  Senator  Mack  read 
from  Jefferson’s  Manual  a passage  at  variance  with  the 
opinion  given  by  Gov.  Casey,  but  the  Speaker,  in  loyalty 
to  his  referee,  adroitly  settled  the  question  by  assuring 
the  Senator  that  he  was  “not  ruling  according  to  Jefferson , 
but  according  to  the  gentleman  from  Jefferson 
—27 


418  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Illinois  in  the  Kansas  Struggle. 

Illinois  took  a prominent  part  in  the  events  that  led 
to  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  as  well  as  in  the  war 
itself.  To  Mr.  Douglas  belongs  whatever  blame  or 
credit  is  due  the  authorship  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill.  To  him  has  been  attributed  the  blame  of  the 
application  of  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  for 
the  spread  of  slavery,  and  to  him  has  been  attributed 
also  much  of  the  credit  of  its  application  in  behalf  of 
freedom,  and  to  Illinoisans  belong  the  distinction  of 
taking  a leading  part  in  the  movement  which  made  Kan- 
sas a free  State.  After  the  burning  of  Lawrence,  in  May, 
1856,  the  free-state  men  of  Chicago  met  in  mass  meeting, 
and  besides  organizing  an  association  to  promote  the  em- 
igration of  free-state  men  to  Kansas,  promptly  con- 
tributed $15,000  to  support  the  cause,  and  from  that 
organization  followed  a national  assemblage  at  Buffalo, 
New  York,  in  July  of  the  same  year,  which  was  pre- 
sided over  by  ex-Governor  A.  H.  Reeder,  who  had  been 
driven  from  Kansas  by  the  so-called  border  ruffians, 
with  Wm.  F.  M.  Arney,  Secretary.  The  delegates  from 
Illinois  were  J.  C.  Vaughn,  Peter  Page,  Wm.  F.  M. 
Arney  and  Harvey  B.  Hurd.  Mr.  Hurd  was  made  a 
member  of  the  committee  on  organization.  From  the 
National  Free-State  Committee  there  was  created  an 
executive  committee,  which  consisted  exclusively  of 
Chicago  men,  namely,  J.  D.  Webster,  Geo.  W.  Dole  and 
Harvey  B.  Hurd.  Their  office  was  established  in  the 
original  Marine  Bank  building,  on  the  Northeast  corner 
of  LaSalle  and  Lake  streets.  It  was  known  as  the 
war  office  of  the  free-state  men  through  which  was  sup- 
plied money,  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Kansas 
settlers  in  support  of  the  cause  of  freedom  until  the 
question  of  statehood  was  settled.  Previous  to  this 
time,  the  Missouri  river  had  been  closed  to  Northern 
emigrants,  who  were  forced  to  cross  the  country 
through  Iowa  and  Southern  Nebraska,  but  this  exec- 
utive committee  succeeded  in  establishing,  in  the  early , 
spring  of  1857,  a daily  line  of  steamboats  between  St. 
Louis  and  Leavenworth,  and  the  safety  of  passengers 
and  freight  was  guaranteed,  and  thus  the  pro-slavery 
men  were  overwhelmed  by  Northern  emigration,  and 
Kansas  became  a free  State. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


419 


How  Col.  Reuben  Loomis  was  Killed. 

One  of  the  saddest  occurrences  of  the  war  was  the  death 
of  Col.  Reuben  Loomis,  of  DuQuoin,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
the  Sixth  Illinois  Cavalry,  at  the  hands  of  Maj.  T.  G.  S. 
Herrod,  of  Shawneetown,  of  the  same  regiment,  at  Ger- 
mantown, Tennessee,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1863.  In 
Barnet’s  “Martyrs  and  Heroes”  of  Illinois,  we  find  the 
following  account  of  the  unfortunate  affair  from  the  pen 
of  Maj.  Charles  W.  Whitsit: 

“ At  the  time,  the  entire  effective  force  of  the  Sixth 
Illinois  Cavalry  was  out  under  command  of  Lieut. -CoL 
Loomis,  assisting  in  the  general  operations  against  Gen. 
Chalmers’  movements.  Maj.  Herrod  being  left  in  command 
of  the  ineffective  force  in  camp,  did  some  important  offi- 
cial business  over  his  signature,  as  a ‘Major  Commanding 
Regiment.’  Lieut. -Col.  Loomis,  thinking  it  an  injustice 
to  him  and  his  regiment,  took  occasion  to  reprimand  Maj. 
Herrod  for  his  unwarranted  assumption  of  power. 

“ Some  bitter  words  passed  during  the  interview,  which 
was  in  the  forenoon  of  the  day  on  which  the  murder  was 
committed.  At  dark  Maj.  Herrod  came  to  headquarters  and 
inquired  for  Col.  Loomis,  who,  he  was  told,  was  at  supper, 
but  would  soon  be  in.  He  proceeded  immediately  to  the 
Lucken  House,  near  half  a mile  distant,  where  Col.  Loomis 
boarded,  and  where  Col.  Hatch  and  several  other  officers  were 
at  supper.  Meeting  Col.  Loomis  in  the  hall  he  accosted  him 
thus : ‘ Col.  Loomis,  you  said  this  morning  thus  and  so, 

in  the  presence  of  Col.  Hatch ; take  it  back  or  I’ll  kill 
you.’  Col.  Loomis  replied  in  a mild  tone  : ‘Maj.  Herrod, 
you  have  got  a pistol  in  your  hand  and  I am  unarmed.  If 
you  want  to  kill  me,  kill  me.’  Maj.  Herrod  immediately 
fired;  the  first  shot  knocking  him  down,  the  second  enter- 
ing his  breast,  killing  him  instantly.  He  fired  three  more 
shots,  none  of  which  took  effect.” 

Major  Herrod  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  sentenced 
to  death,  but  influential  friends  interfered  and  induced 
President  Lincoln  to  commute  his  sentence  to  ten  years 
imprisonment ; but  after  a year’s  confinement  in  the  Au- 
burn, New  York,  Penitentiary,  he  was  pardoned  in  May, 
1866,  by  President  Johnson. 


420 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Major  Herrod  raised  the  first  company,  B,  of  volunteer 
soldiers  that  went  out  from  Gallatin  county,  which  was 
assigned  to  the  18th,  Col.  M.  K.  Lawler’s  regiment. 

How  Pinkney  H.  Walker  became  Judge. 

Onias  C.  Skinner,  of  Quincy,  was  one  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  during  the  administration  of  Wm.  H. 
Bissell,  the  first  Republican  Governor  of  Illinois,  and  for 
private  personal  reasons  desired  to  leave  the  bench.  He 
communicated  the  wish  to  the  Governor,  saying  at  the 
same  time  that  if  he  would  allow  him  to  name,  as  his  suc- 
cessor, Pinkney  H.  Walker,  a Democrat,  he  would  resign, 
but  if  the  vacancy  was  to  be  filled  wTith  a Republican  he 
would  not.  But  Governor  Bissell  having  full  confidence 
in  the  purity  of  character  of  Mr.  Walker,  who  was  then 
Judge  of  the  Fifth  Circuit,  readily  assented  to  the  request 
of  Judge  Skinner  and  the  appointment  was  made,  and  the 
people  seem  to  have  been  quite  as  well  satisfied  with  the 
selection  as  Judge  Skinner  himself,  for  Judge  Walker  has 
been  a member  of  this  Court  ever  since  that  time,  and  is 
esteemed  as  one  of  our  ablest  and  purest  jurists.  Advert- 
ing to  his  politics,  we  have  heard  a good  story  relating 
to  his  early  political  training.  Maj.  James  A.  Connolly, 
II.  S.  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illi- 
nois, made  a business  visit  a year  or  so  ago  to  that  part 
of  Kentucky  in  which  Mr.  Walker  was  born,  and  hap- 
pened to  be  the  guest  of  an  uncle  of  the  Judge’s,  who 
made  inquiry  as  to  the  welfare  of  his  nephew,  and  among 
other  things  as  to  his  politics,  to  which  Mr.  Connolly  re- 
plied he  was  a Democrat,  when  the  uncle,  who  was  a Clay 
Whig,  expressing  astonishment  and  disappointment  in  his 
very  looks,  shook  his  head  and  sadly  exclaimed:  ‘Pink- 
ney was  taught  better  things  than  that.’ 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


421 


An  Exciting  Political  Episode. 

Connected  with  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870 
was  an  exciting  episode  in  the  attempt  of  the  opposing 
political  parties  to  secure  the  organization.  Mr.  Church, 
of  McHenry,  Republican,  put  in  nomination  Wm.  Cary, 
of  JoDaviess,  for  temporary  President,  and  James  C.  Allen, 
of  Crawford,  Democrat,  nominated  Col.  John  Dement,  of 
Lee,  which  was  seconded  by  Mr.  McDowell,  of  White, 
when  Mr.  Allen  put  the  question  and  declared  Dement 
elected.  Simultaneously,  Mr.  Church  put  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Cary  and  declared  him  elected,  when  the  two  gen- 
tlemen ascended  to  the  chair ; Dement  from  the  Democratic 
side,  and  Cary  from  the  Republican,  and  meeting  in  the 
presidential  place  they  gracefully  shook  hands  and  took 
seats  together  amidst  great  laughter  and  applause.  The 
good  sense  of  these  gentlemen  allayed  the  passions  of 
their  respective  friends,  and  they  continued  to  occupy  the 
chair  jointly,  putting  the  questions  alternately  until  the 
roll-call,  when  Col.  Dement  was  elected  President  pro 
tempore  by  a vote  of  44  to  32,  which  relieved  the  body 
from  the  embarrassment  of  having  two  presiding  officers. 

“He  Knew  him  Before  the  Flood.” 

In  the  campaign  of  1872,  Gov.  Palmer  was  explaining, 
in  a speech  made  in  Springfield,  how  it  was  that  some 
men  changed  their  politics,  while  others  did  not,  and  cited 
Alexander  Starne,  who  was  present,  as  one  who  never 
changed.  “Why,”  said  the  Governor,  “I  knew  Starne 
before  the  flood,  and  he  was  a Democrat  then,  and  I guess 
he  will  die  a Democrat.”  But  Mr.  Starne,  not  being  will- 
ing to  appear  as  old  as  the  Governor  had  made  him  seem, 
good  naturedly  rejoined,  in  a voice  loud  enough  to  be 
heard  by  all,  that  the  only  flood  he  had  any  recollection 
of  meeting  the  Governor  in,  was  when  he  was  trying  to 


422 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


flood  Illinois  with  Yankee  clocks.  Many  of  the  audience, 
remembering  that  the  Governor  had  peddled  clocks  in  his 
younger  days,  heartily  applauded  the  neat  turn  Mr.  Starne 
had  given  the  Governor’s  jest. 

There  is  no  use  of  this  Investigation. 

At  the  time  Edward  Eutz  was  serving  his  first  term 
as  State  Treasurer,  the  Democratic  party  obtained,  by  a 
fusion  with  the  Independents,  nominal  control  of  both 
branches  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  leaders  of  the 
lower  house  conceived  the  idea  that  there  was  a shortage 
in  Mr.  Rutz’s  cash  account,  and  a committee  was  raised 
to  investigate  the  matter  by  counting  the  money  in  the 
vault.  While  the  preliminary  work  was  going  on  a well- 
known  Democrat,  who  had  known  Mr.  Eutz  for  long  years, 
and  who  was  more  profane  than  polite,  was  overheard  to 
say  “ There  is  no  use  of  this  investigation ; the  d — d 
Dutchman  has  got  the  money.”  And  so  the  count  proved. 
Notwithstanding  the  constitution  of  Illinois  inhibits  the 
election  of  a person  to  the  office  of  State  Treasurer  two 
terms  in  succession,  yet  it  was  Mr.  Rutz’s  good  fortune  to 
have  been  elected  three  times  to  that  office,  the  required 
lapse  of  time  ensuing  in  each  case.  It  is  not  likely,  how- 
ever, that  such  a circumstance  will  ever  again  occur  in 
the  history  of  any  man  in  the  State. 

“I  was  Born  a Poor  Barefooted  Boy.” 

Governor  Beveridge  is  responsible  for  this  story  on  ex- 
State  Treasurer  Eidgway.  In  1874,  Beveridge  and  Ridg- 
way  were  making  a canvass  together  of  Southern  Illinois, 
and  at  their  meeting  at  Garmi,  White  county,  Eidgway 
took  occasion  to  allude  to  the  fact  that  that  county  had 
been  his  birthplace,  and,  warming  up  with  the  subject,  he 
said : “ Yes,  fellow-citizens,  I was  born  a poor,  barefooted 
boy  in  White  county,  and  am  just  as  much  entitled  to  be 
the  Treasurer  of  the  great  State  of  Illinois  as  though  I 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


423 


had  been  born  in  the  lap  of  luxury  in  Cook  or  any  of  the 
other  great  counties  of  the  State.  This  slip  of  the  tongue 
was  too  good  to  be  lost,  and  the  crowd  shouted  long  and 
loud,  and  Eidgway  has  since  been  known  among  his  most 
intimate  friends  as  the  man  who  was  born  barefooted. 

“ Tom  Needles  and  John  Bunn  Know  too  D — n Much.’’ 

During  the  great  railroad  riot  of  1877  business  was  vir- 
tually suspended  on  all  the  leading  lines  of  railway  in  the 
State,  and  on  one  occasion  Gov.  Cullom  had  to  procure 
from  J.  C.  McMullen,  General  Superintendent  of  the  C.  & 
A.  Railway,  a special  train  in  order  to  reach  East  St. 
Louis  to  look  after  the  military  operations  there.  He  in- 
vited James  A.  Connolly,  Jonathan  Merriam,  E.  D.  Law- 
rence, S.  H.  Jones  and  William  Prescott  to  accompany 
him;  and  in  the  absence  of  his  Private  Secretary,  E.  F. 
Leonard,  requested  T.  B.  Needles,  who  was  then  Auditor, 
and  John  Bunn,  to  remain  at  the  Executive  office  to 
assist  Harry  Dorwin  in  answering  whatever  dispatches 
might  be  received,  for  he  had  been  overwhelmed  with  tel- 
egrams from  all  parts  of  the  State.  Needles  and  Bunn 
willingly  assented  to  the  request  and  took  their  places  in 
the  office,  remaining  there  until  the  Governor’s  return, 
which  was  about  12  o’clock  the  next  night,  when  they 
repaired  to  the  mansion  and  reported  that  not  a single 
telegram  had  been  received  during  his  absence.  Of  course, 
the  Governor  was  much  surprised  at  what  seemed  to  be 
a mystery.  But  on  going,  to  the  telegraph  office  the  next 
morning  it  was  readily  explained  by  the  manager,  who 
said  that  Adjutant-General  Hilliard  had  remained  in  the 
office  during  the  absence  of  the  Governor,  and  had  re- 
ceived and  answered  all  messages.  When  Gen.  Hilliard 
was  asked  by  the  Governor  why  he  had  done  so,  he  re- 
plied: “Tom  Needles  and  John  Bunn  know  too  d — n 
much  to  play  Governor.”  The  joke  was  heartily  relished 


424 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


by  all  who  were  in  the  secret,  and  by  none  more  than 
Needles  and  Bunn,  but  it  was  a long  time  before  they 
heard  the  last  of  “ playing  Governor.” 

“By  the  Wars,  the  People  Elected  Me.” 

It  is  related  that,  while  Thomas  S.  Ridgway  was 
Treasurer  of  the  State,  an  attempt  was  made  through 
some  friends  of  the  Cook  County  National  Bank,  to 
have  him  deposit  in  it  $200,000  of  the  money  in  the 
treasury,  but  when  he  hesitated,  one  of  them  sarcas- 
tically informed  him  that  the  Republicans  had  elected 
him,  and  he  was  expected  to  do  their  will.  This  stirred 
the  temper  of  Ridgway,  who,  rising  to  the  dignity  of 
the  occasion,  responded  with  his  religious  oath,  “By 
the  wars,  the  people  elected  me,  and  I am  under  bond 
to  safely  keep  the  money,  and  I intend  to  do  it.”  This 
closed  the  interview.  In  a short  time  afterward  the 
bank  failed,  and  very  many  of  its  depositors  went 
down  with  it,  but  “by  the  wars,”  Ridgway  was  not 
a loser. 

Mr.  Ridgway’s  immediate  predecessor,  Edward  Rutz, 
had  been  pressed  in  the  same  manner,  but  his  innate 
honesty  saved  the  treasury  from  being  invaded  by  the 
spoilsmen.  How  essential,  then,  is  it  that  pure  men 
should  be  selected  to  All  this  important  trust. 

“Tell  Old  Hilliard  to  Come  and  See  me,  Devilish  Quick. *' 

There  is  a good  story  related  of  Gov.  Cullom,  which 
had  its  origin  during  an  occasion  when  an  outbreak  was 
hourly  expected  from  “striking”  miners.  Those  who  know 
the  Governor  well  will  bear  us  out  in  saying  that  he  was 
not  given  to  much  dress-parade  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  and  that  he  is  in  no  sense  a military  man. 
On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  deeply  occupied  with  mat- 
ters of  State,  the  Orderly  of  Adjutant-General  Hilliard  made 
his  appearance,  and  inquired  if  the  “Commander-in-Chief 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


425 


had  any  orders  for  Adjutant-General  Hilliard, ” at  the 
same  time  saluting  the  Governor  in  true  military  style. 
Without  relinquishing  his  attention  from  the  business  in 
hand,  the  Governor  curtly  said : “Tell  Old  Hilliard  to 
come  and  see  me.”  Another  military  salute,  and  the 
Orderly  was  off,  but  he  had  not  gone  far  before  it  occurred 
to  him  that  the  “Commander-in-Chief  ” did  not  wish 
to  send  the  message  to  the  Adjutant-General  in  that 
form,  and  returned,  and  with  another  military  salute, 
asked  further  instructions,  when  the  Governor,  rising 
from  his  seat  as  though  he  meant  to  put  the  Orderly  out 
of  his  office,  thundered  in  his  ear:  “Tell  Old  Hilliard  to 
come  and  see  me,  devilish  quick.”  This  emphatic  order 
served  to  end  all  unnecessary  palaver  between  the  two 
departments  so  long  as  that  Orderly  remained  on  duty. 

U If  THEY  WILL  LET  ME  OUT  WITH  AS  GOOD  CHARACTER  AS  I HAD.” 

The  animosities  which  grew  up  in  the  Republican  party 
over  the  attempt  to  carry  Illinois  solid  for  Gen.  Grant 
for  President  in  the  National  Convention  in  1880,  con- 
tinued to  exist  to  some  extent  even  after  the  election  of 
Garfield,  and  among  those  who  were  not  in  exact  accord 
with  the  “stalwarts”  was  Charles  B.  Farwell,  who  had 
been  elected  to  Congress  from  the  third  congressional 
district  in  Chicago.  The  writer  met  Mr.  Farwell  in  Wash- 
ington at  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Garfield,  and  in  reply 
to  an  inquiry  as  to  how  he  viewed  the  incoming  Admin- 
istration, he  declined  to  say  anything  of  it,  but  related 
the  following  story  illustrative  of  his  feelings : “There 
resided,”  said  he,  “in  a certain  locality  in  a neighboring 
State  a wealthy  citizen,  of  liberal  instincts,  who  was  in- 
duced to  interest  himself  financially  in  the  erection  of  an 
expensive  house  of  worship  for  the  Episcopal  church* 
When  the  edifice  was  completed,  then  came  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  pews,  and  this  wealthy  man  was  assigned  one 


426 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  the  most  desirable,  at  an  annual  rental  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  and  was  taken  in  as  a member  of  the  society. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  a church  quarrel  ensued,  and 
the  opposing  parties  called  each  other  almost  everything 
but  Christians.  For  a time  the  new  member  bore  the 
controversy  with  seeming  patience,  but  at  last  becoming 
thoroughly  disgusted,  he  proposed  to  the  brethren  that  if 
they  would  ‘let  him  out  into  the  world  again  with  as  good 
character  as  he  possessed  when  he  was  taken  into  the 
church,  he  would  give  them  the  five  hundred  dollars  pew- 
rent,  and  surrender  all  interest  in  the  building.’  ” 

Mr.  Farwell  playfully  said  that  if  the  party  would  let 
him  out  of  Congress  with  as  good  character  as  he  had 
when  he  entered  public  life,  he  would  cheerfully  lay  aside 
all  claims  for  money  expended  or  services  rendered  in 
past  campaigns. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

"LAKE  FRONT,” 


“Lake  Front”— A remarkable  Incident— First  Legislative  Quorum  Broken  in 
Illinois— How  the  Constitution  of  1848  was  Evaded— Women  as  Journal- 
ists—How  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll  was  Defeated  for  Congress  in  the  Lovejoy 
District— Farmers’  Strike— Women  as  Workers  in  Potters*  Clay. 


From  time  to  time  there  has  been  a great  deal  of  contro- 
versy in  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois,  and  in  the  courts, 
regarding  what  is  known  as  the  Lake  Front  at  Chicago,  and 
as  few  persons  have  a definite  idea  as  to  what  really  is  meant 
by  the  term  Lake  Front  or  the  cause  of  the  controversy,  we 
devote  this  chapter,  in  part,  to  the  subject.  In  1869  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  passed,  through  the  pressure  of  a well  organ- 
ized lobby,  a sweeping  act  granting  to  the  city  of  Chicago  all 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


427 


right,  title  and  interest  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  a strip  of 
land  four  hundred  feet  in  width  east  of  Michigan  Avenue, 
including  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  with  full  power  and 
authority  to  sell  and  convey  all  of  said  tract  to  certain  rail- 
road corporations,  and  the  same  act  confirmed  to  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company  a former  grant  from  the 
State  in  its  charter,  and  also  granted  in  fee,  to  the  Illinois 
Central,  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & Quincy  and  the  Michi- 
gan Central  Railroad  Companies,  a fractional  part  of  sec- 
tions ten  and  fifteen,  in  township  thirty-nine,  range  fourteen 
east,  for  the  erection  thereon  of  a passenger  depot,  and  other 
purposes.  In  consideration  of  this  last  grant,  said  compa- 
nies were  required  to  pay  to  the  city  of  Chicago  the  sum  of 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  within  one  year,  in  install- 
ments of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  every  three  months, 
on  the  full  payment  of  which  the  city  of  Chicago  was  au- 
thorized and  empowered  to  quit-claim  and  release  to  said 
railroad  companies  any  and  all  claim  and  interest  in  and 
upon  any  or  all  of  said  land. 

As  we  have  said,  a lobby,  perhaps  the  ablest  and  most 
untiring  that  ever  met  at  the  capital,  pressed  the  passage  of 
the  bill,  which  was  vigorously  opposed  by  a strong  minority 
in  each  house,  on  the  ground  that  the  harbor  of  Chicago 
ought  not  to  be  owned  by  railroad  corporations,  and  that  it 
was  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  individual  owners  of  prop- 
erty along  Michigan  Avenue,  and  that  it  was  granting  some 
land  to  the  railroad  companies  which  belonged  to  the  Illi- 
nois Michigan  Canal,  without  consideration.  Ex-Senator 
Mack,  an  able  and  adroit  manager,  was  the  leader  of  the 
lobby  and  personal  representative  of  the  corporations,  and 
it  is  alleged  that  he  was  unscrupulous  in  the  means  he  used 
to  accomplish  his  ends.  The  cry  of  bribery  was  heard  all 
over  the  State,  and  Senators  and  Representatives  were  open- 
ly charged  as  having  accepted  a consideration  for  their 


428 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


votes  in  favor  of  the  measure.  The  opponents  of  the  bill 
were  unwavering  in  their  efforts  to  defeat  its  passage,  but 
the  lobby  proved  too  much  for  them.  It  passed  the  House 
by  a vote  of  52  yeas  to  80  nays,  and  the  Senate  by  a vote  of 
14  yeas  to  11  nays,  but  when  it  was  laid  before  Governor 
Palmer  he  vetoed  it,  supporting  his  views  with  an  able  and 
comprehensive  message.  When  the  bill  was  returned  to 
the  respective  houses  it  was  passed  over  the  veto  by  about 
the  same  majority  it  received  originally.  In  the  Senate 
Mr.  Fort  changed  his  vote  from  aye  to  no.  In  the  House 
there  was  an  exciting  episode  over  the  action  of  Mr.  Bailey, 
now  a Circuit  Judge  in  the  13th  Judicial  District.  The 
consideration  of  the  veto  had  been  set  for  an  evening  ses- 
sion. The  Speaker  announced,  “Shall  the  bill  pass,  the  ob- 
jections of  the  Governor  notwithstanding?”  and  then 
directed  the  Clerk  to  call  the  roll.  The  name  of  Mr.  Bailey 
was  the  first  upon  the  list.  He  had  originally  opposed  the 
measure,  but  after  the  adoption  of  an  amendment  proposed 
by  himself,  voted  for  the  bill  on  its  final  passage.  Before 
he  had  time  to  respond  to  the  call  of  his  name,  Mr.  Knick- 
erbocker, now  Probate  Judge  of  Cook  County,  arose  excitedly 
and  objected  to  Mr.  Bailey  voting,  on  the  ground  of  person- 
al interest,  charging  that  his  law  partner  had  received  pay 
for  advancing  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  that  the  member 
from  Stephenson,  as  a member  of  the  firm,  shared  in  that 
money.  The  Speaker  said  the  gentleman  from  Stephen- 
son could  answer.  Mr.  Bailey  arose,  and  in  a clear  but 
tremulous  voice  said  : “I  have  no  interest  in  the  passage 
or  defeat  of  this  bill,  and  the  gentleman  from  Cook  little 
knows  how  I shall  vote.  I vote  no.”  The  scene  was  a very 
exciting  one,  and  is  vividly  remembered  by  many  eye  wit- 
nesses who  were  not  members  of  the  Legislature. 

After  all  the  excitement  was  over,  Governor  Palmer,  with 
some  seriousness,  asked  ex-Senator  Mack  how  he  could 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


429 


reconcile  it  to  his  conscience  to  do  what  he  did  in  the  pass- 
age of  the  “Lake  Front”  bill.  Mr.  Mack,  never  lacking  in 
ability  to  retort,  replied  that  the  measure  itself  was  all 
right ; that  if  members  of  the  Legislature  had  done  any- 
thing wrong,  he  was  not  to  blame,  that  he  took  them  as  he 
found  them. 

The  scheme  had  its  vicissitudes.  The  opposition  to  the 
law  in  Chicago  was  so  violent  that  the  City  Council  refused 
to  give  a quit- claim  deed  to  the  property,  and  in  1878  the 
General  Assembly  passed  a bill  repealing  the  law.  Subse- 
quently, Attorney- General  McCartney  commenced  legal  pro- 
ceedings to  determine  the  rights  of  property,  and  the  Canal 
Commissioners,  acting  under  a joint  resolution  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1883,  introduced  by  Senator  Whiting^ 
employed  counsel  to  appear  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  Both  cases  are  now  pending  in 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court.*  In  the  meantime,  the  Illi- 
nois Central  Railroad  Company  pleads  vested  rights,  and  is 
slowly  but  surely  pushing  its  claim  to  the  ownership  of  the 
property.  It  is  pertinent  to  say  that  in  this  property  there 
are  four  interests  involved.  Illinois  extends  to  the  center  of 
Lake  Michigan.  The  United  States  controls  the  navigable 
waters.  Lake  Front  belongs  to  Chicago,  and  the  Illinois  Cen- 
tral Railroad  Company  possesses  such  rights  as  were  granted 
in  the  charter  which  authorized  the  construction  of  the 
road;  but  there  is  a growing  opposition  in  the  minds 
of  the  people  of  Chicago  to  the  aggressive  movements  of  the 
corporation  which  operates  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
which  promises  to  be  even  more  violent  and  bitter  than  was 
the  congest  which  resulted  in  the  passage  and  subsequent 
repeal  of  the  Lake  Front  bill  in  1869  and  1873. 

But  of  those  who  were  the  chief  actors  in  the  passage  of 
the  Lake  Front  bill,  but  little  remains  to  be  said.  They 
retired,  or  were  retired,  from  public  life,  and  are  now  un- 
known  in  the  politics  of  the  State.  As  for  Mr.  Mack,  he 

*In  1888  the  court  decided  the  case,  in  which  the  rights  of  the  city  and 
State  were  sustained. 


480 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


died  in  Chicago,  January  2,  1871,  in  abject  poverty,  and 
without  friends,  it  is  said,  to  mourn  his  departure  to  the 
other  shore. 


A Remarkable  Incident. 

Illustrative  of  the  progress  of  thought,  and  to  preserve 
the  record  of  a most  remarkable  event  in  the  history  of  this 
State,  we  give  place  to  the  following : 

In  the  year  1859  there  was  living  in  the  town  of  Manteno, 
Kankakee  County,  the  Rev.  Theophilus  Packard,  who  was 
the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  village.  His 
wife,  Elizabeth  P.  W.  Packard,  was  the  daughter  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Ware,  also  a Presbyterian  clergyman,  of  Deerfield, 
Massachusetts.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Packard  were  the  parents  of 
six  children,  all  living  at  home.  Up  to  this  time  it  would 
appear  that  peace  and  harmony  had  always  reigned  in  the 
Packard  family.  But  in  the  winter  of  1859-60,  Mrs.  Pack- 
ard became  a member  of  the  Bible  Class  of  the  church,  and 
being  a lady  of  culture  and  education,  and  of  strong  will, 
she  soon  found  herself  in  conflict  with  other  members  of 
the  class  upon  religious  doctrines,  and  this  conflict  at  last 
developed  between  herself  and  her  husband.  It  soon  be- 
came apparent  that  a total  change  had  taken  place  in  her 
religious  opinions,  and  her  husband  became  fully  persuaded 
that  her  mind  was  diseased.  At  length  two  physicians  from 
his  church  were  called  in,  who,  after  a brief  examination  of 
her  mental  condition,  gave  their  certificates  that  she  was 
insane ; and  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  June,  1860,  she 
was  taken  to  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Jackson ville? 
where  she  was  confined  for  the  space  of  three  years.  Her 
eldest  son,  Theophilus,  upon  attaining  his  majority,  applied 
for  her  release,  and  she  was  discharged  as  incurably  insane. 
Upon  reaching  her  home  at  Manteno,  her  husband  still 
regarding  her  as  insane,  she  was  locked  up  in  a room  and 
kept  a prisoner  for  several  weeks.  At  length  she  discovered 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


481 


that  a movement  was  on  foot  among  the  friends  of  her  hus- 
band to  have  her  removed  to  an  asylum  for  the  insane  in 
Massachusetts,  her  native  State.  She  managed  to  com- 
municate with  some  friends  in  the  neighborhood,  and  re- 
quested them  to  undertake  some  legal  means  to  protect 
her  from  her  husband.  Accordingly,  legal  proceedings  were 
commenced  by  filing  a petition  before  Judge  Starr,  in  the 
words  following : 

“State  of  Illinois,  ) 

KANKAKEE  COUNTY.  \ S * 

“To  the  Honorable  Charles  R.  Starr , Judge  of  the  20th  Judicial 
Circuit , in  the  State  of  Illinois: 

“William  Haslet,  Daniel  Beedy,  Zalmon  Hanford  and 
Joseph  Younglove,  of  said  county,  on  behalf  of  Elizabeth 
P.  W.  Packard,  wife  of  Theophilus  Packard,  of  said  county, 
respectfully  represent  unto  your  honor  that  said  Elizabeth 
P.  W.  Packard  is  unlawfully  restrained  of  her  liberty  at 
Manteno,  in  the  County  of  Kankakee,  by  her  husband,  Rev. 
Theophilus  Packard,  being  forcibly  confined  and  imprisoned 
in  a close  room  of  the  dwelling  house  of  her  said  husband, 
for  a long  time,  to-wit.,  for  a space  of  four  weeks ; her  said 
husband  refusing  to  let  her  visit  her  neighbors  and  refusing 
her  neighbors  to  visit  her ; that  they  believe  her  said  hus- 
band is  about  to  forcibly  convey  her  from  out  the  State ; 
that  they  believe  there  is  no  just  cause  or  grounds  for  re- 
straining said  wife  of  her  liberty;  that  they  believe  said 
wife  is  a mild  and  amiable  woman.  And  they  are  advised 
and  believe  that  said  husband  cruelly  abuses  and  misuses 
said  wife  by  depriving  her  of  her  winter’s  clothing  this  cold 
and  inclement  weather,  and  that  there  is  no  necessity  for 
such  cruelty  on  the  part  of  said  husband  to  said  wife ; and 
they  are  advised  and  believe  that  said  wife  desires  to  come 
to  Kankakee  City  to  make  application  to  your  honor  for  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  liberate  herself  from  said  confine- 
ment or  imprisonment,  and  that  said  husband  refused  and 
refuses  to  allow  said  wife  to  come  to  Kankakee  City  for  said 
purpose ; and  that  these  petitioners  make  application  for  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  her  behalf,  at  her  request.  These 
petitioners  therefore  pray  that  a writ  of  habeas  corpus  may 
forthwith  issue,  commanding  said  Theophilus  Packard  to 
produce  the  body  of  said  wife  before  your  honor,  according  to 
law,  and  that  said  wife  may  be  discharged  from  said  im- 
prisonment.” 


432 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  foregoing  petition  was  duly  signed  and  sworn  to  by 
the  petitioners  before  Mason  B.  Loomis,  a Justice  of  the 
Peace,  on  the  11th  day  of  January,  1864,  and  in  pursuance 
of  said  petition  a writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  issued,  to  which 
Mr.  Packard  responded,  claiming  that  his  wife  was  insane, 
and  was  restrained  of  her  liberty  only  so  far  as  was  com- 
patible with  her  welfare  and  safety. 

The  case  was  on  trial  from  January  11  to  January  18, 
1864.  At  10  o’clock  p.  m.  of  that  day  the  jury  retired  for 
consultation,  and  after  an  absence  of  seven  minutes,  re- 
turned into  Court  with  the  following  verdict : 


“State  of  Illinois,  ) 

KANKAKEE  COUNTY,  J 

“We,  the  undersigned,  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  P. 
W.  Packard,  alleged  to  be  insane,  having  heard  the  evidence 
in  the  case,  are  satisfied  that  said  Elizabeth  P.  W.  Packard 
is  sane .” 


John  Stiles,  Foreman 
Daniel  G.  Bean. 

E.  G.  Hutchinson. 

Y.  H.  Young. 

G.  M.  Lyons. 
Thomas  Muncey. 


H.  Hirshberg. 
Nelson  Jervois. 
William  Hyer. 
Geo.  H.  Andrews. 
J.  F.  Mafit. 
Lemuel  Milk. 


The  Court  then  ordered  the  Clerk  to  enter  the  following 
order : 

“State  of  Illinois,  ) 

KANKAKEE  COUNTY,  j * 

“It  is  hereby  ordered  that  Mrs.  Elizabeth  P.  W.  Packard 
be  relieved  from  all  restraint  incompatible  with  her  con- 
dition as  a sane  woman.”  C.  B.  Starr, 

Judge  of  the  20th  Judicial  Circuit . 


Mrs.  Packard’s  subsequent  career  justified  this  verdict. 
In  the  winter  of  1867  she  visited  the  Illinois  Legislature  and 
succeeded  in  securing  important  legislation  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  One  feature  of  the  law 
was  that  no  person  should  be  confined  in  an  asylum  for  the 
insane,  except  upon  the  verdict  of  a jury,  and  this  feature 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


433 


of  the  law  remains  to  this  day,  although  some  efforts  have 
been  made  to  repeal  it.  Mrs.  Packard  subsequently  visited 
other  States,  and  has  been  very  successful  in  securing 
remedial  legislation  for  this  unhappy  class  of  our  fellow 
beings.  She  never  lived  with  her  husband  afterward,  but 
refused  to  apply  for  a divorce. 

Eev.  Mr.  Packard  is  still  living  at  Manteno,  with  relatives, 
enfeebled  in  body  and  mind.  The  affair  here  narrated  de- 
stroyed his  usefulness,  and  ended  his  career  as  a pastor. 

Mrs.  Packard  has  written  her  experiences,  and  published 
one  or  two  books  on  subjects  pertaining  to  insanity,  which 
have  had  an  extensive  sale,  whereby  she  has  accumulated 
a fortune  of  several  thousand  dollars. 

First  Legislative  Quorum  Broken  in  Illinois. 

The  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1859  had  a very 
abrupt  termination.  The  Democrats  had  a majority  in 
both  houses,  but  their  majority  in  the  House  was  not  large 
enough  to  enable  them  to  carry  party  measures  through 
without  the  presence  of  at  least  ten  members  of  the  op- 
posing party.  The  apportionment  bill  was  the  great  meas- 
ure of  contention,  and  while  the  Democrats  were  deter- 
mined on  passing  it,  yet  the  Republicans,  aided  by  Gover- 
nor Bissell,  were  equally  earnest  in  opposing  its  passage. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  re- 
ported to  the  House  that  the  Senate  had  concurred  with  the 
House  in  the  passage  of  a bill  entitled,  “An  act  to  create 
Senatorial  and  Representative  districts,  and  apportion  the 
representation  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State.” 

The  Constitution  of  1848  had  two  provisions  different  from 
ihe  present  Constitution.  No  Legislative  business  could  be 
transacted  without  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  being 
present  and  voting,  and  a bare  majority,  if  two-thirds  were 
present,  could  pass  a bill  notwithstanding  the  Governor’s 
veto.  While  it  was  known  that  the  Governor  would  veto 
— 28 


434 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  Apportionment  Bill,  it  was  also  known  that  the  Demo- 
cratic majority  was  ready  at  a moment’s  warning  to  pass 
the  bill  over  the  veto,  but  they  had  only  five  majority  in  the 
House,  which  was  ten  less  than  two-thirds. 

On  the  morning  of  February  22d,  the  Democratic  mem- 
bers were  all  present,  but  only  three  Republican  members 
were  in  attendance,  namely  : Mr.  Church  of  McHenry,  Mr. 
Hurlbut  of  Boone  and  Mr.  Mack  of  Kankakee,  which  left 
the  number  of  members  present  seven  less  than  a quorum. 
The  gallery  and  lobbies  were  crowded.  To  the  least  observ- 
ant it  was  apparent  that  something  unusual  was  antici- 
pated. The  vacant  seats  gave  notice  that  the  Republican 
members  had  determined  to  break  the  quorum  and  prevent 
the  passage  of  the  vetoed  bill.  On  the  other  hand  it  was 
known  that  the  Democrats  would  refuse  to  receive  the 
threatened  veto  message,  and  would  contend  that  it  could 
not  be  received  unless  a quorum  was  present. 

While  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clover  was  delivering  the  usual  morn- 
ing prayer  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  Governor’s 
private  Secretary  came  into  the  aisle  on  the  left  of  the 
Speaker’s  chair.  Before  the  prayer  was  concluded  Mr. 
Church  arose  in  his  seat,  and  as  soon  as  the  final  “Amen” 
was  pronounced,  he  shouted  in  a loud  voice:  “The  Gover- 
nor’s private  Secretary  with  a message  from  the  Governor.” 
Instantly  the  Secretary  began  reading  the  message  without 
waiting  to  be  recognized  by  the  Chair.  Reliable  eye  wit- 
nesses of  the  scene  say  that  he  finished  reading  the  mes- 
sage, while  others,  equally  credible,  claim  that  the 
message  was  snatched  from  his  hand  by  a Democratic 
member  before  he  had  half  finished  reading  it.  In  the  mean- 
while the  wildest  disorder  prevailed.  The  Speaker  (Mr. 
Morrison)  ordered  the  doorkeeper  to  remove  the  Secretary, 
and  the  doorkeeper  proceeded  to  do  so.  A call  of  the  House 
was  ordered  amid  great  noise  and  confusion,  every  member 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


435 


standing-  While  the  roll  was  being  called,  the  member 
from  McHenry  took  the  veto  message  from  the  floor  and 
laid  it  on  the  Speaker’s  desk;  and  the  Speaker  struck  the 
message  a blow  with  his  gavel  which  sent  it  several  yards 
from  his  desk  into  a pile  of  dirty  saw  dust,  which  had  been 
brought  in  to  fill  some  spittoons  for  the  lobby.  When  the 
roll  call  was  finished  it  appeared  that  no  quorum  was  pres- 
ent, and  the  House  immediately  adjourned. 

Next  day  the  veto  message  was  picked  up  by  a page, 
who  handed  it  to  W.  H.  Green,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  who  said  he  would  refer  it  to  his  com- 
mittee. The  quorum  was. permanently  broken.  The  Re- 
publican members  never  returned  to  their  seats  in  the  21st 
General  Assembly;  and  consequently  the  apportionment 
bill  was  not  passed  over  the  veto.  The  journal  of  the  House 
does  not  show  any  return  of  a veto  message  by  the  Gover- 
nor ; but  the  veto  was  accepted  as  a settled  fact. 

The  message  was  very  short.  It  denounced  the  appor- 
tionment bill  as  having  no  parallel  except  in  the  then 
notorious  Lecompton  Constitution,  and  as  an  attempt  of 
the  minority  to  govern  the  majority. 

The  Springfield  Journal  of  the  23d  of  February,  comment- 
ing on  the  scene,  said:  “The  Douglasites,  (meaning  the 
Democrats)  in  a body,*  sprang  to  their  feet  and  commenced 
shouting,  yelling  and  hooting  at  the  top  of  their  voices  like 
so  many  wild  Indians  in  a war  dance  ; while  above  all  was 
heard  the  Speaker’s  hammer  pounding  upon  his  desk,  and 
he,  with  his  stentorian  voice,  was  calling  out,  Silence ! 
Order ! There  is  no  quorum — the  Hbuse  can  not  receive  any 
message — doorkeeper,  put  that  man  out.” 

This  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  where 
a quorum  of  either  house  had  been  broken.  Indeed  we 
have  no  knowledge  of  its  ever  having  been  seriously  attempt- 
ed except  at  the  special  session  of  1839-40,  when  the  House 


486 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


met  in  the  Methodist  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Monroe  Streets.  The  Democrats  desired  to  force  the  banks 
into  liquidation,  while  the  Whigs  opposed  that  policy,  but 
as  the  Whigs  were  too  few  in  number  to  accomplish  any- 
thing unless  it  were  done  by  revolution,  some  of  them 
determined  to  break  the  quorum  of  the  House  in  that  way, 
but  as  the  doors  were  locked  against  them  they  could  only 
do  that  by  jumping  out  of  the  windows,  which  several  did, 
but  not  enough  to  break  the  quorum.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  one  of  the  members  who  went  out  of  the  window. 

How  the  Constitution  of  1848  was  Evaded. 

We  have  remarked  in  a previous  chapter  that  before  the 
Constitution  of  1870  had  been  adopted  the  State  had  out- 
grown the  Constitution  of  1848,  so  much  so  that  the  law- 
making power,  the  executive,  and  even  the  Courts  them- 
selves, overstepped  its  plainest  provisions  with  impunity. 
The  General  Assembly  of  1869  was  the  last  that  met  under 
that  Constitution.  The  pay  of  members  was  then  $2  per 
day  for  forty-two  days,  and  $1  per  day  thereafter,  and  10 
'Cents  mileage,  going  to  and  returning  from  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment, and  “no  more.”  The  duration  of  this  session  was 
seventy-four  days,  and  the  compensation  of  members  as 
fixed  by  the  organic  law  would  have  been  only  $115,  ex- 
clusive of  mileage,  but  it  far  exceeded  that  amount.  No 
member  drew  less  than  $491,  while  some  drew  as  high  as 
$618.  (See  Journals.) 

There  was  appropriated  at  this  session  for  postage  for  the 
use  of  members,  $8,460 ; for  newspapers,  $35,400.69 ; Com- 
mittee services  and  expenses,  $12,223.61,  and  pocket  knives 
$702.50.  The  postage  stamps,  newspapers  and  pocket 
knives  were  supposed  to  be  equally  divided  between  the 
members,  but  as  the  reader  may  desire  to  know  how  so 
many  of  these  articles  were  utilized,  we  will  explain  that 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


437 


there  were  middle-men  in  the  transaction,  and  that  for  the 
greater  part,  money  was  drawn  in  lieu  thereof.  As  for  the 
Committee  expenses,  room  rent,  lights  and  fuel  were 
charged  for.  A Committee  would  meet  in  the  room  of 
a member  stopping  at  the  Leland  Hotel,  for  one  night, 
and  $15  would  be  charged  for  its  use.  In  those  days  of 
strict  constructionists  of  the  Constitution,  it  would  seem 
strange  that  men  who  assembled  to  make  laws  to  govern 
the  people  could  thus  shut  their  eyes  to  the  sanctity  of  the 
oaths  they  had  taken  to  support  the  Constitution  of  their 
State.  But  this  Legislature  was  no  exception  to  the  rule ; 
it  followed  a precedent  that  had  existed  for  more  than  a 
decade. 

But  when  the  Constitution  of  1870  went  into  effect,  a rad- 
ical reformation  took  place.  When  the  member  appeared 
he  found  upon  his  desk  an  ink-stand  and  pen,  some  half- 
dozen  sheets  of  writing  paper  and  as  many  envelopes. 
Many  of  the  members  regarded  this  as  a violation  of  the 
Constitution,  and  they  politely  declined  to  use  these  articles ; 
but  as  the  Constitution  has  grown  older,  and  members  have 
learned  better  how  to  construe  its  provisions,  they  are  far 
less  scrupulous  in  ordering  or  accepting  the  things  necessary 
for  their  comfort  and  convenience  during  the  session  of  a 
Legislature. 

Now  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  executive.  The  salary 
of  the  Governor  was  fixed  at  $1,500  per  annum,  which  was 
not  to  be  increased  or  diminished,  but  the  Legislature  so 
adjusted,  from  time  to  time,  the  appropriations  relating  to 
that  office,  that  when  the  proposition  was  made  in  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1869-70  to  fix  the  salary  of  the 
Governor  at  $6,000  per  annum,  it  was  argued  that  the  sum 
was  too  small,  that  under  the  then  prevailing  system  the 
Governor  received  more  than  that  amount. 

We  come  next  and  last  to  the  Judiciary.  The  salaries  of 
the  Supreme  Court  Judges  were  fixed  at  $1,200  per  annum. 


438 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  “no  more,”  and  of  the  Circuit  Judges  at  $1,000,  and 
“no  more.”  The  Auditor’s  report  for  1869  shows  that  the 
Judges  for  the  respective  divisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
received  $3,999.96  per  annum ; $1,200  of  this  amount  was 
claimed  as  clerk  hire,  thus  leaving  their  salaries  at  $2,799.96, 
or  $1,599.96  in  excess  of  the  constitutional  allowance. 

There  were  then  thirty-one  Judicial  Circuits  in  the  State, 
and  each  Judge  received,  as  showm  by  the  same  report, 
$1,000  per  annum  as  an  extra  allowance  for  revising  the 
Statutes.  There  was  evidently  a great  deal  of  revising 
necessary. 

In  extenuation  of  this  matter,  however,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  when  the  Constitution  of  1848  was  framed, 
the  population  of  the  State  was  but  a fraction  over  800,000, 
and  that  the  total  valuation  of  all  property,  under  the 
census  of  the  United  States,  two  years  after,  was  only 
$156,265,006.  There  was  then  hanging  over  the  State  a 
debt  of  not  quite  $15,000,000,  the  legacy  of  the  internal  im- 
provement system  of  1837,  and  the  framers  of  this  Consti- 
tution wisely  sought  every  means  that  would  lighten  the 
burden  of  taxation  of  the  people  and  yet  preserve  the  credit 
of  the  State,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  bound,  as  with 
iron  bands,  the  officers  and  law-makers  in  the  direction  of 
economy. 

How  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll  was  Defeated  for  Congress. 

The  election  for  Congressmen  in  Illinois,  in  1870,  partook 
somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a revolution  in  the  politics  of  the 
State.  The  13th  District,  which  had  been  represented  in 
the  Fortieth  Congress  by  Green  B.  Baum,  Republican, 
reelected  John  M.  Crebs,  Democrat,  and  the  8th,  the  home 
of  Lincoln,  represented  by  Shelby  M.  Cullom,  was  carried 
by  James  C.  Robinson,  Democrat.  But  the  greatest  sur- 
prise of  all  was  the  defeat  of  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll  in  that 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


439 


stronghold  of  Republicanism  familiarly  known  as  the  Love- 
joy  District,  which  was  thought  to  be  invincible.  Mr.  In- 
gersoll  had  won  a national  reputation  by  his  aggressive 
course  in  Congress.  His  first  appearance  in  politics  as  a Re- 
publican was  in  1862,  when  he  became  the  candidate  for  Con- 
gressman at  large  on  the  Union  Republican  ticket.  He  was 
placed  upon  the  ticket  as  a War-Democrat,  it  being  thought 
hazardous  to  run  a straight  Republican.  He  made  a bril- 
liant canvass  of  the  State,  and  his  eloquent  appeals  in  behalf 
of  the  cause  of  the  Union  won  for  him  the  admiration  of 
loyal  men  everywhere,  but  he  was  defeated  by  a small 
majority  by  James  C.  Allen,  an  able  and  eloquent  cham- 
pion of  the  Democratic  party.  This  contest  brought  him  in 
full  fellowship  with  the  Republican  party,  and  when  Owen 
Lovejoy  died,  in  1864,  Mr.  Ingersoll  succeeded  him,  but  not 
without  opposition.  The  most  intimate  friends  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy  preferred  a recognized  anti-slavery  man,  such  as 
John  H.  Bryant  of  Princeton,  or  James  M.  Allen  of  Greneseo, 
but  Mr.  Ingersoll  received  the  nomination  at  the  conven- 
tion, which  was  held  at  Princeton.  The  election  took  place 
May  7,  1864,  and  Mr.  Ingersoll  was  triumphantly  elected 
over  H.  M.  Wead,  the  Democratic  candidate,  by  a majority 
of  5,309.  Mr.  Ingersoll  had  not  been  in  Congress  long  before 
he  demonstrated  that  he  was  fully  the  equal  of  Mr.  Love- 
joy in  radicalism  on  the  slavery  question,  which  secured  for 
him  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  Republicans  of  his 
district,  and  he  was  returned  to  the  thirty-ninth,  fortieth 
and  forty-first  Congresses,  with  only  slight  opposition,  his 
majorities  ranging  from  6,000  to  9,000.  Mr.  Ingersoll  was 
very  conspicuous  and  active  in  his  support  of  the  several 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
From  the  very  hour  of  the  introduction  of  the  13th  amend- 
ment, until  its  final  adoption,  he  gave  it  the  warmest 
.support.  In  a speech  urging  its  passage,  he  uttered 


440 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


these  words : “With  that  measure  accomplished,  our 
voices  will  ascend  to  heaven  over  a country  reunited,  over 
a people  disenthralled,  and  God  will  bless  us.”  And  on  its 
passage,  in  the  House,  on  January  31st,  1865,  he  was 
equally  emphatic  in  expressing  the  pleasure  the  passage  of 
the  measure  gave  him.  Said  he  : “Mr.  Speaker,  in  honor 
of  this  immortal  and  sublime  event,  I move  this  House  do 
now  adjourn.”  Mr.  Ingersoll  was  no  less  a leader  in  the 
legislation  which  continued  the  circulation  of  the  green- 
back currency,  and  it  may  be  said,  that  he  ably  and 
faithfully  represented  the  views  of  his  Republican  con- 
stituents, and  was  esteemed  one  of  the  foremost  leaders 
of  the  party  in  Congress;  but  notwithstanding  this 
proud  position,  the  opposition  which  confronted  him 
when  he  first  aspired  to  the  seat  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  began  to 
manifest  itself  in  a marked  degree  long  before  the  Congres- 
sional Convention  of  1870,  at  which  he  was  nominated  for 
the  fifth  time  to  represent  that  district.  John  H.  Bryant,  a 
life-long  friend  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  and  who,  perhaps,  more 
nearly  represented  the  views  of  that  great  statesman  on  the 
slavery  question  than  any  other  man  in  the  State,  was  the 
leader  of  this  opposition.  Being  an  adroit  politician  and 
brother  of  the  distinguished  poet,  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
he  exercised  a wonderful  power  in  the  district.  He  was 
public  spirited ; was  twice  a member  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  his  personal  acquaintance  with  President  Lincoln 
had  secured  for  him  the  office  of  Collector  of  Internal  Reve- 
nue, which  he  filled  ably  and  honorably.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances he  was  a dangerous  foe.  Retaliating  upon  Mr. 
Bryant,  Mr.  Ingersoll  succeeded,  after  Andrew  Johnson  be- 
came President,  in  having  him  removed  from  the  office  of 
Collector,  but  when  Mr.  Johnson  broke  faith  with  the  Re- 
publican party,  Mr.  Ingersoll  denounced  him  in  such  un- 
measured terms  as  to  cause  the  reinstatement  of  Mr. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


441 


Bryant.  In  the  meantime  the  opposition  to  Mr.  Ingersoll 
in  his  own  party,  became  very  outspoken,  and  there  was  a 
general  desire  to  nominate  some  other  man.  Thomas 
Henderson  was  not  infrequently  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  nomination.  His  high  character  as  a citizen,  and 
his  distinguished  services  as  a soldier  in  the  war  for  the 
Union,  had  won  for  him  a high  place  in  the  affections  of  the 
people,  and  he  was  finally  selected  as  the  opponent  of  Mr. 
Ingersoll  in  the  Congressional  Convention,  but  Mr.  Inger- 
soll, having  secured  a majority  of  the  votes  at  the  prima- 
ries, was  declared  the  nominee,  but  he  was  surrounded  by 
political  war-clouds,  and  a mass  convention  of  his  opposers 
was  called  at  Galesburg  for  consultation,  but  no  definite 
action  was  taken  as  to  the  selection  of  an  opposing  candi- 
date. Subsequently,  the  Democrats  held  a convention  at 
Peoria.  Bureau  County  had  instructed  her  delegates  to 
vote  for  James  S.  Eckles,  of  Princeton,  but  after  an  unsuc- 
cessful contest  of  several  hours  with  other  aspirants,  the 
name  of  Mr.  Eckles  was  withdrawn  and  that  of  B.  N. 
Stevens,  of  Tiskilwa,  substituted,  when  he  was  unanimously 
nominated  as  the  people’s  candidate.  Mr.  Stevens  was  a 
graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  a man  of  marked  ability, 
and  withal  personally  popular.  He  belonged  to  a large, 
wealthy  and  influential  family ; had  been  Supervisor  of  his 
town  for  nine  consecutive  years,  and  though  a strong  Dem- 
ocratic partisan,  his  official  acts  were  so  impartial  as  to 
win  him  hosts  of  friends  irrespective  of  party,  and  he  had 
been  made  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  notwith- 
standing it  was  Bepublican  by  a large  majority;  he  had 
favored  a vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  to  save  the  Union, 
and  these  facts,  taken  together  with  his  correct  habits  of 
life,  rendered  him  a strong  candidate  under  any  circum- 
stances, to  say  nothing  of  the  disaffection  in  the  Bepublican 
ranks.  But  previous  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Stevens, 


442 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


B.  F.  Ives,  a Baptist  clergyman  of  Tiskilwa,  had  been  nomi- 
nated by  some  temperance  organization  as  a candidate  for 
Congress,  and  he  was  bitterly  pursuing  Mr.  Ingersoll 
through  the  churches.  The  Democrats  took  no  open  part 
in  the  campaign,  but  the  dissatisfied  Republicans,  led  by 
Mr.  Bryant,  waged  an  unrelenting  war  upon  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
and  espoused  the  cause  of  Mr.  Stevens  with  great  zeal, 
declaring  that  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  would  in  the 
end  benefit  the  Republican  party.  About  half  the  Republi- 
can press  of  the  district  followed  the  example  of  Mr.  Bryant 
in  his  merciless  attacK  upon  Mr.  Ingersoll.  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
on  the  other  hand,  relying  upon  the  good  name  he  had 
established  in  Congress,  did  not  make  a vigorous  campaign, 
but  left  it  to  the  people  to  chose  whom  they  would  serve, 
hoping  in  the  meanwhile  to  outride  the  storm.  But  near 
the  closing  days  of  the  canvass,  J.  M.  Caldwell,  pastor  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Princeton,  who  had  been 
a co-worker  with  Mr.  Ives,  now  joined  with  several  other 
well  known  clergymen  in  an  elaborate  circular  address 
signed  by  them,  officially  urging  the  election  of  Mr.  Stevens, 
not  only  as  a temperance  candidate,  but  especially  on 
moral  anu  religious  grounds,  thus  raising  an  issue  between 
Christianity  and  infidelity.  Mr  Ives  was  also  maligned,  and 
his  candidacy  treated  contemptuously.  Mr.  Caldwell’s 
prominence  in  his  church  rendered  the  document  very  effect- 
ive throughout  the  district,  especially  as  it  was  distributed 
from  the  various  churches  the  Sunday  preceding  the  elec- 
tion. Some  of  the  chief  supporters  of  Mr.  Ives  also  issued 
a circular  in  favor  of  giving  the  temperance  support  to  Mr. 

’ Stevens ; thereupon  Mr.  Ives  partially  withdrew  from  the 
canvass,  and  as  a rebuke  to  those  who  had  assailed  him  at 
the  last  moment,  favored  the  election  of  Mr.  ingersoll,  but 
this  step  came  too  late  to  stay  the  political  tide  which  was 
sweeping  over  the  district  like  a mighty  torrent.  When  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


443 


returns  came  in  it  was  shown  that  Mr.  Stevens  had  been 
triumphantly  elected  by  a majority  of  1,614,  in  a district 
which  two  years  before  gave  Mr.  Xngersoll  a majority  of 
7, £05  over  his  Democratic  competitor.  The  defeat  of  Mr. 
Ingersoll  was  a great  surprise  to  his  friends  throughout  the 
entire  country,  and  touched  his  personal  pride  not  a little; 
and  a few  months  afterward  he  bid  a final  adieu  to  the  people 
of  the  district,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Washington, 
where  he  gave  his  undivided  attention  to  the  practice  of  law 
until  his  untimely  death,  May  31st,  1879.  It  was  over  his 
lifeless  form  that  his  brother,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  delivered 
these  pathetic  words : 

“Dear  Friends:  I am  going  to  do  that  which  the  dead 
oft  promised  he  would  do  for  me. 

“The  loved  and  loving  brother,  husband,  father,  friend, 
died  where  manhood’s  morning  almost  touches  noon,  and 
while  the  shadows  still  were  falling  toward  the  west. 

“He  had  not  passed  on  life’s  highway  the  stone  that 
marks  the  highest  point ; but,  being  weary  for  a moment, 
he  lay  down  by  the  wayside,  and  using  his  burden  for  a pil- 
low, fell  into  that  dreamless  sleep  that  kisses  down  his  eye- 
lids still.  While  yet  in  love  with  life  and  raptured  with  the 
world,  he  passed  to  silence  and  pathetic  dust. 

“Yet,  after  all,  it  may  be  best,  just  in  the  happiest,  sun- 
niest hour  of  all  the  voyage,  while  eager  winds  are  kissing 
every  sail,  to  dash  against  the  unseen  rock,  and  in  an  in- 
stant hear  the  billows  roar  above  a sunken  ship.  For 
whether  in  mid  sea  or  ’mong  the  breakers  of  the  farther 
shore,  a wreck  at  last  must  mark  the  end  of  each  and  all. 
And  every  life,  no  matter  if  its  every  hour  is  rich  with  love 
and  every  moment  jeweled  with  a joy,  will,  at  its  close,  be- 
come a tragedy  as  sad  and  deep  and  dark  as  can  be  woven 
of  the  warp  and  woof  of  mystery  and  death. 

“This  brave  and  tender  man  in  every  storm  of  life  was 
oak  and  rock ; but  in  the  sunshine  he  was  vine  and  flower. 
He  was  the  friend  of  all  heroic  souls.  He  climbed  the 
heights,  and  left  all  superstition  far  below,  while  on  his 
forehead  fell  the  golden  dawning  of  the  grander  day. 

“He  loved  the  beautiful,  and  was  with  color,  form  and 
music  touched  to  tears.  He  sided  with  the  weak,  the  poor, 


444 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  wronged,  and  lovingly  gave  alms.  With  loyal  heart 
and  with  the  purest  hands  he  faithfully  discharged  all  pub- 
lic trusts. 

“He  was  a worshiper  of  liberty,  a friend  of  the  oppressed. 
A thousand  times  I have  heard  him  quote  these  words : 
‘For  Justice  all  place  a temple,  and  all  season,  summer.' 
He  believed  that  happiness  was  the  only  good,  reason  the 
only  torch,  justice  the  only  worship,  humanity  the  only  re- 
ligion, and  love  the  only  priest.  He  added  to  the  sum  of 
human  joy;  and  were  every  one  to  whom  he  did  some  lov- 
ing service  to  bring  a blossom  to  his  grave,  he  would  sleep 
to-night  beneath  a wilderness  of  flowers. 

“Life  is  a narrow  vale  between  the  cold  and  barren  peaks 
of  two  eternities.  We  strive  in  vain  to  look  beyond  the 
heights.  We  cry  aloud,  and  the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of 
our  wailing  cry.  From  the  voiceless  lips  of  the  unreplying 
dead  there  comes  no  word ; but  in  the  night  of  death  hope 
sees  a star,  and  listening  love  can  hear  the  rustle  of  a wing. 

“He  who  sleeps  here,  when  dying,  mistaking  the  approach 
of  death  for  the  return  of  health,  whispered  with  his  latest 
breath  ‘I  am  better  now.'  Let  us  believe,  in  spite  of  doubts 
and  dogmas,  of  fears  and  tears,  that  these  dear  words  are 
true  of  all  the  countless  dead. 

“And  now,  to  you,  who  have  been  chosen,  from  among 
the  many  men  he  loved,  to  do  the  last  sad  office  for  the 
dead,  we  give  his  sacred  dust. 

“Speech  cannot  contain  our  love.  There  was,  there  is,  no 
gentler,  stronger,  manlier  man.” 

A word  more  of  Mr.  Stevens.  He  represented  his  people 
ably  and  well  in  Congress,  but  did  not  aspire  a second  time 
for  the  honor,  but  on  his  return  from  Washington  resumed 
business  relations  with  his  sons,  Alden  N.  and  Charles  M.r 
under  the  firm  name  of  B.  N.  Stevens  & Sons,  Merchants 
and  Bankers,  which  was  continued  until  the  day  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  November  10, 1885.  His  sons,  rever- 
ing the  memory  of  their  father,  have  continued  business 
under  the  original  name.  Mr.  Stevens  was  a native  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  was  born  January  3,  1813.  He  came 
to  Illinois  in  1844,  locating  soon  after  in  Bureau  County, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


445 


where  by  a life  of  integrity  and  a generous,  noble  nature, 
he  founded  for  himself  a lasting  place  in  the  memory  of  that 
people. 

Farmers’  Strike. 

There  is  no  one  thing  in  the  history  of  Illinois  that  will 
be  remembered  more  vividly  than  the  uprising  of  the  farm- 
ers in  the  fall  of  1872,  which  was  based  upon  a feeling  of 
hostility  toward  railroad  corporations,  because  of  their 
alleged  high  charges  and  unjust  discrimination  in  freight 
rates.  This  movement  was  facetiously  termed  by  railroad 
officials  as  the  “farmers’  strike,”  and  hence  the  title  of  this 
article.  The  prices  of  farm  products  had  fallen  ruinously 
low,  and  while  local  farmers’  clubs  had  been  in  existence  in 
various  parts  of  the  State  for  mutual  benefit,  they  now 
united  as  one  man  to  consider  the  problem  of  railroad 
transportation.  In  October  of  this  year  a convention  of 
farmers  represeuting  these  clubs  was  held  at  Kewanee. 
L.  D.  Whiting,  a State  Senator,  and  a man  of  experience 
in  public  affairs,  was  made  President,  with  A.  Woodford, 
Vice-President,  and  S.  M.  Smith  and  L.  W.  Beer,  Secre- 
taries. Mr.  Smith  was  a resident  of  Kewanee,  and  after- 
wards gained  a wide  reputation  as  the  advocate  of  the 
farmers’  interests,  and  was  known  far  and  wide  as  “Kewanee 
Smith.”  It  was  a large  and  intelligent  body  of  men,  repre- 
senting every  section  of  the  State.  Among  the  abler  minds 
were  John  H.  Bryant,  C.  C.  Buell,  W.  C.  Flagg  and  C,  E. 
Barney.  Letters  strongly  approving  the  movement  were 
received  from  Leonard  F.  Boss,  of  Avon,  A.  M.  Garland, 
Springfield,  and  M.  L.  Dunlap,  Champaign.  The  fires 
were  kindled  at  this  Convention  for  an  aggressive  campaign 
in  behalf  of  the  farmers’  interests,  and  clubs  were  multi- 
plied all  over  the  State.  A State  Committee,  with  Willard 
C.  Flagg  as  Chairman,  was  selected  to  take  charge  and  di- 
rect the  affairs  of  the  farmers  in  this  new  role.  Among  the 


446 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


first  labors  of  this  Committee  was  the  calling  of  a Dele- 
gate Convention,  which  met  at  Bloomington  on  the  15th  of 
January,  1873.  It  was  composed  of  representative  men  from 
farmers’  clubs,  horticultural  societies,  industrial  associations 
and  the  Grange.  The  Grange  was  a new  institution,  organ- 
ized after  the  manner  of  secret  societies.  It  had  its  birth  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  about  the  year  1867,  and  was  known  as 
the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  the  local  societies  bearing  the 
name  of  Grange.  It  was  designed  orignally  to  advance  the 
social  relations  among  the  people  of  the  rural  districts  and 
secure  the  advantages  of  co-operation  in  the  purchase  of 
supplies. 

The  Convention  met  in  the  forenoon  of  January  15,  and 
continued  in  session  two  days.  L.  D.  Whiting  was  chosen 
temporary  President.  He  opened  the  proceedings  with  a 
stirring  address  on  the  object  of  the  assemblage.  His 
views  were  heartily  approved,  for  he  grasped  at  once 
the  whole  subject,  and  discussed  it  in  a masterly  man- 
ner. A permanent  organization  was  promptly  effected  by 
the  selection  of  W.  C.  Flagg  as  President ; John  H.  Bryant, 
0.  E.  Fanning,  H.  C.  Lawrence  and  M.  M.  Hooten  as  Vice- 
Presidents;  S.  M.  Smith  and  S.  P.  Tufts,  Secretaries; 
Duncan  McKay,  Treasurer.  The  forms  of  organization 
over,  the  Convention  proceeded,  with  great  earnestness,  to 
the  transaction  of  the  business  for  which  it  was  called. 
The  address  of  the  President,  strong  and  logical,  was  con- 
fined closely  to  the  discussion  of  railway  legislation  and 
railway  management.  Three  sessions  were  held  daily,  and 
the  great  hall  was  packed  from  time  to  time  with  an  intelli- 
gent and  enthusiastic  audience.  Reporters  were  present 
from  the  great  daily  papers  of  the  Northwest,  in  and  out  of 
the  State,  and  the  columns  of  these  papers  were  filled  with 
the  doings  of  the  Convention.  Politicians  of  the  two  great 
parties  looked  on  in  amazement,  and  a few  ventured  to  take 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


447 


part  in  the  deliberations ; among  whom  we  remember 
James  Shaw,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  J.  H.  Rowell  and  R.  M.  Ben- 
jamin, of  Bloomington,  and  R.  H.  Morgan,  one  of  the  Rail- 
road and  Warehouse  Commissioners.  No  such  demon- 
stration had  before  been  made  by  the  farmers  of  any  of  the 
States,  and  it  took  the  country  by  surprise.  It  awakened  a 
new  spirit  among  the  farmers,  which  found  its  way  into 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wisconsin,  and  in  fact,  the  whole 
Northwest ; and  the  organization  assumed  a national  char- 
acter. Mr.  Bryant,  of  Princeton,  was  the  author  of  the 
resolution  declaratory  of  the  fundamental  right,  duty,  and 
necessity  of  controlling  railroads  by  law,  and  that  the  reser- 
vation in  their  charters  did  not  supersede  the  power  of  the 
Legislature  on  that  subject,  and  time  has  served  to  estab- 
lish the  wisdom  of  his  views,  although  learned  lawyers 
doubted  their  correctness  at  that  time.  S.  T.  K.  Prime,  of 
Livingston  County,  in  his  report  on  a permanent  State 
organization,  recommended  that  it  be  known  as  the  “Illinois 
State  Farmers’  Association,”  the  object  of  which  was  the 
promotion  of  the  moral,  intellectual,  social  and  pecuniary 
welfare  of  the  farmers  of  Illinois. 

The  law  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1871,  fixing 
passenger  rates  on  railroads,  had  thus  far  proved  a dead 
letter,  and  with  this  fact  prominently  before  their  minds, 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted  without  a dissenting 
voice : 

“ Resolved , That  persons  traveling  upon  the  railroads  of 
the  State,  having  tendered  the  conductor  the  legal  fare,  are 
in  the  line  of  their  duty,  and,  as  they  have  complied  with 
their  legal  obligations,  are  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
civil  power  of  the  State,  and  any  conductor,  or  other  officer 
or  employe  of  the  railroad,  attempting  to  disturb  any  such 
person,  or  eject  him  from  the  cars,  are  violators  of  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  State,  and  should  be  punished  by 
exemplary  penalties.” 

It  is  related  that  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention 
a great  crowd  gathered  at  the  railway  station  to  take  the 


448 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


train  south.  It  was  a very  cold  day,  and  all  went  into  the 
waiting  room.  After  some  time  it  occurred  to  one  of  the 
delegates  that  it  was  train  time,  when  he  approached  the 
ticket  agent,  who  informed  him  politely,  but  with  evident 
satisfaction,  that  the  “train  had  gone.”  The  disgust  of  the 
delegates  can  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

Subsequently,  Morgan  A.  Lewis,  a citizen  of  Neponset, 
encouraged  by  the  resolution  relating  to  railroad  fares, 
boarded  a passenger  train  on  the  C.,  B.  & Q.  R.  R.  at  Buda, 
and  tendered  the  conductor  18  cents,  the  legal  fare  for  six 
miles’  travel.  The  conductor  demanded  20  cents,  but  on  the 
refusal  of  Mr.  Lewis  to  pay  the  additional  2 cents,  he  was 
ejected  from  the  train  by  force.  Neil  Buggies  was  the  name 
of  the  conductor,  and  Mr.  Lewis  caused  him  to  be  arrested 
for  assault.  The  case  was  tried  before  Thomas  Rose,  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace  at  Neponset.  A fine  of  $10  was  im- 
posed upon  the  defendant.  The  case  was  appealed  by  the 
'railroad  company  to  a higher  Court,  and  was  finally  carried 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  where,  after 
some  years,  the  judgment  of  Justice  Rose  was  affirmed,  the 
particulars  of  which  are  detailed  in  another  chapter. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  while  this  uprising  was 
deemed  a strike  among  the  farmers,  yet  in  their  public  ap- 
peal to  be  delivered  from  the  burdens  which  promised  to 
involve  them  all  in  poverty,  they  acted  strictly  within  the 
bounds  of  law.  The  agitation,  begun  at  Kewanee  and  re- 
newed at  Bloomington,  was  not  allowed  to  slumber.  Farm- 
ers’ clubs,  granges  and  industrial  associations  were  rapidly 
formed  all  over  the  State.  So  marked  was  the  movement, 
that  within  three  months  more  than  a thousand  organiza- 
tions had  been  effected,  and  its  zealous  friends  looked  upon 
it  as  the  dawning  of  a new  era  for  the  industries  of  the 
Nation.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  had  pronounced 
important  features  of  the  railroad  law  unconstitutional.  It 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


449 


was  in  a case  appealed  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  McLean 
County,  Judge  Tipton  presiding.  The  case  was  based  on 
a plea  of  unjust  discrimination  in  freght  rates.  The  C.  & A. 
E.  E.  had  charged  more  for  a car  of  lumber  from  Chicago 
to  Lexington  than  from  the  same  point  to  Bloomington, 
a greater  distance.  The  lower  court  found  for  the  plaintiff. 
The  Supreme  Court  decided  the  law  unconstitutional,  and 
pointed  out  the  manner  in  which  it  might  be  amended  by 
the  Legislature  so  as  to  mete  out  justice  to  shippers. 
The  General  Assembly,  which  was  then  in  session,  made 
haste  to  consider  amendments  to  the  law  so  as  to  meet  the 
recommendations  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Supplementary  to 
the  Bloomington  Convention,  a State  Farmers'  Convention 
was  called  at  Springfield  to  stimulate  the  Legislature  in 
that  work.  More  than  three  hundred  delegates  assembled 
and  continued  in  session  three  days,  meeting  in  the  morn- 
ing, afternoon,  and  at  night.  Governor  Beveridge,  ex-Gov- 
ernor  Palmer,  and  Senators  Castle  and  Whiting  addressed 
the  Convention  by  invitation.  They  were  unanimous  in  de- 
manding an  efficient  railroad  law,  and  the  consequence  was 
that  the  General  Assembly  soon  passed  a law  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  the  case,  and  the  Farmers’  Association  rightly 
claimed  a share  in  the  achievement.  But  the  farmers  were 
not  content  with  their  success  before  the  Legislature.  The 
official  term  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Illi- 
nois Supreme  Court,  was  drawing  to  a close.  He  had  deliver- 
ed the  opinion  of  the  Court  in  the  railroad  case,  and  having 
accepted  a call  from  the  lawyers  to  become  a candidate  for 
reelection,  the  farmers  determined  on  his  defeat,  and  with 
this  view  they  held  a convention  at  Princeton  and  nom- 
inated A.  M.  Craig,  of  Knox  County,  as  their  candidate. 
Mr.  Craig  was  a Democrat,  and  between  the  votes  of  the 
farmers  and  his  own  party,  was  elected  by  a majority  of 
2,808. 

— 29 


450 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


A similar  effort  was  made  in  the  Second  Judicial  District 
to  defeat  the  reelection  of  Judge  John  Scholfield,  but  it 
signally  failed.  In  reply  to  a circular  addressed  to  all  can- 
didates for  Judge  by  the  Farmers’  Association,  requiring 
them  to  define  their  position  upon  questions  relating  to  the 
control  of  corporations,  Mr.  Scholfield  closed  a letter  in  these 
manly  words:  “I  will  never  be  a Judge  to  record  the  pre- 
determined decrees  of  either  corporations  or  individuals.” 
But  the  farmers  succeeded  in  electing  several  of  the  Circuit 
Judges,  and  these  successes  attracted  wide  attention. 
Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated  Newspaper  supported  its  article 
upon  the  subject  with  a picture  of  President  Flagg,  sur- 
rounded by  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Association. 

While  these  events  gave  the  movement  prestige,  it  also 
engendered  arrogance.  At  the  annual  meeting,  held  at 
Decatur  the  ensuing  autumn,  the  association  declared  in 
favor  of  an  independent  political  organization,  and  pre- 
pared itself  for  party  warfare,  when  many  Republicans 
abandoned  the  association.  The  Democrats  naturally  gave 
the  new  party  encouragement,  not  infrequently  joining  it  in 
local  elections,  and  by  a partial  coalition  in  1874,  Samuel 
M.  Etter  was  elected  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction, and  Fawcett  Plumb,  Jesse  F.  Harrold,  William 
H.  Parish  and  Samuel  Glassford  were  elected  State  Sen- 
ators. Quite  a number  of  Representatives  had  been  elected 
in  the  same  way,  and  by  a fusion  of  the  Democrats  with 
these  Representatives  of  the  new  party,  the  former  gained 
control  of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  A.  A. 
Glenn,  Democrat,  was  elected  President  pro  tem . of  the 
Senate  over  John  Early,  Republican,  by  a vote  of  26  to  23, 
and  E.  M.  Haines,  Independent  Republican,  over  Shelby  M. 
Cullom,  Republican,  by  a vote  of  81  to  68.  The  session  of 
this  Legislature  was  long  and  stormy,  and  amidst  the  politi- 
cal strife,  the  interests  of  the  farmers  were  lost  sight  of. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


451 


The  last  political  venture  made  by  the  farmers  was  in 
the  campaign  of  1876,  when  Lewis  Steward,  of  Plano,  was 
nominated  for  Governor,  and,  though  endorsed  by  the  Dem- 
ocratic Convention,  was  defeated  by  Shelby  M.  Cullom.  Not- 
withstanding the  defeat  of  the  new  party  in  the  State  elec- 
tion, it  had  elected  a sufficient  number  of  Senators  to  hold 
the  balance  of  power,  and  the  result  was,  that  Fawcett 
Plumb  was  elected  President  pro  tem.  of  the  Senate,  and,  as 
the  crowning  victory  of  their  domination,  David  Davis  was 
elected  United  States  Senator  to  succeed  John  A.  Logan. 

These  repeated  coalitions  with  political  parties  had  the 
effect  to  disorganize  the  Farmers’  Association,  and  but  few 
of  its  members  held  out  for  a new  party,  which  has  been 
known  since  as  the  Greenback  or  Independent  party.  Prom- 
inent among  these  are  such  names  as  Jesse  Harper  and 
A.  J.  Streeter. 

While  this  uprising  of  the  farmers  was  diverted  from  its 
original  purpose  by  political  schemers,  yet  it  may  be  said 
to  have  accomplished  much  for  the  people  in  the  govern- 
ment of  railroads  by  the  State.  Originally,  in  several  of  the 
older  States,  the  charters  authorizing  the  construction  of 
railroads,  fixed  passenger  and  freight  rates.  In  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  the  first  railroad  charters  contained  a pro- 
vision authorizing  the  State,  after  a certain  number  of 
years,  to  purchase  and  operate  the  roads,  but  subsequently, 
under  the  policy  of  consolidation,  the  law  became  general, 
authorizing  the  Boards  of  Directors  of  the  railroad  corpora- 
tions to  fix  “reasonable  rates.”  In  1869,  Governor  Palmer 
vetoed  a bill  which  sought  to  establish  passenger  rates  on 
all  the  roads  in  the  State,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a 
“judicial  question,”  but  this  uprising  of  farmers  outlined 
and  intensified  the  principle  that  public  corporations  are 
subject  to  legislative  control,  even  to  the  extent  of  fixing 
the  rates  for  carrying  passengers  and  freight,  and  this  prin- 
ciple has  been  confirmed  by  a decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States. 


452 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


About  Women. 

In  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  many  able  and  patriotic 
women  came  upon  the  stage  of  action  and  contrib- 
uted, individually,  as  valuable  service  to  their  coun- 
try’s cause  in  its  darkest  hours,  as  did  the  men  who 
served  in  the  tented  field,  and  no  State  in  the  Union 
can  boast  of  a prouder  record  in  this  regard  than 
Illinois.  But  with  all  their  patriotism  and  sacrifices 
in  the  cause  of  their  country,  the  law-makers  persist- 
ently refuse  to  give  them  the  boon  of  the  ballot. 

In  1868,  Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell,  after  passing  a cred- 
itable examination,  was  denied  the  right  to  enter  the 
legal  profession,  on  the  ground  that  she  was  a married 
woman.  Afterward,  she  appealed  to  the  courts,  the 
case  going  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  with 
the  same  result.  Next  came  Miss  Alta  M.  Hulett  with 
a similar  application,  but  she,  too,  was  refused  the 
privilege  of  practicing  law.  But,  in  1872,  the  General 
Assembly,  through  the  instrumentality  of  these  ladies, 
passed  an  act  which  declared  that  no  person  should 
be  debarred  from  any  occupation,  profession  or  em- 
ployment on  account  of  sex,  and  under  this  act,  Mrs. 
Bradwell  and  Miss  Hulett  became  lawyers.  Miss  Hulett 
entered  upon  an  active  practice,  but  she  did  not  live 
long  to  enjoy  her  chosen  profession. 

Journalism  has  opened  a finer  field  for  women  than 
the  professions,  and  very  many  have  entered  the 
fascinating  pursuit,  and  not  a few  have  become  emi- 
nent. Mrs.  Myra  Bradwell  is  known  to  the  legal  pro- 
fession, the  world  over,  as  the  editor  of  the  Chicago 
Legal  News.  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Willard  and  Miss  Frances 
E.  Willard  conducted  for  a time,  with  signal  ability, 
the  Chicago  Evening  Post.  Miss  Mary  Allen  West, 
Miss  Adelaide  March  ant,  Mrs.  Helen  Ekin  Starrett, 
Miss  Minna  Smith,  Miss  Lilian  Whiting,  Mrs.  Anna  L. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


453 


Wakeman,  Mrs.  Frances  L.  Conant,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Boynton  Harbert,  and  Mrs.  Harriet  A.  Farrand  are 
all  gifted  and  pleasing  writers,  either  as  correspondents, 
or  editors,  and,  indeed,  there  is  hardly  a first-class 
daily  or  weekly  journal,  in  Illinois,  that  has  not  now 
some  bright,  gifted  woman  employed  in  the  capacity 
of  editor  or  correspondent. 

The  first  recognition  of  women,  by  the  law-makers 
of  Illinois,  as  public  servants,  was  in  1873,  when  an 
act  was  passed  permitting  them  to  hold  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and  at  the  ensuing- 
November  election,  nine  women  were  chosen  to  fill  that 
trust,  but  since  that  time  the  men  have  sharply  com 
tested  their  right  to  enter  the  political  arena,  even  ta 
this  extent,  and  in  1889,  there  were  but  seven  women 
in  the  entire  State  who  were  holding  this  office. 

The  next  step  was  in  1875,  when  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly  rendering  women  eligible  to 
the  office  of  Notary  Public.  The  law  went  into  effect 
in  July  of  that  year,  and  Mrs.  Annie  Fitzhugh  Ousley 
was  the  first  woman  to  receive  a commission  under 
that  act,  which  was  given  her  by  Gov.  Beveridge  on 
the  very  day  the  law  went  into  effect. 

Woman,  though  restrained  by  the  refusal  of  the* 
States  and  the  Nation  to  confer  upon  her  the  right 
of  suffrage,  is  slowly,  but  certainly,  making  her 
way  into  all  the  professions  and  occupations  of 
life,  going  even  to  the  workshops,  where  her  influence 
is  as  potent  for  good  as  in  the  home  circle. 

Mrs.  Pauline  Jacobus,  of  Chicago,  has  for  years  been 
devoting  her  life  to  the  manufacture  of  decorative  pot- 
tery, better  known  as  the  Ceramic  Art,  and  has  attracted 
a wide  celebrity  for  producing  the  finest  and  most  deli- 
cate specimens  of  this  beautiful  art.  It  is  worthy  of 


454 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


remark  that  she  personally  superintends  every  department, 
from  the  preparation  of  the  crude  clay  to  designing  the 
shapes,  testing  the  fires,  and  attending  to  the  minutest 
details.  Only  women  who  have  had  a thorough  academical 
training  are  employed  as  decorators.  In  May,  1886,  by 
special  invitation  of  the  lovers  of  art  at  the  city  of  Spring- 
field,  Mrs.  Jacobus  delivered  a lecture  upon  this  subject  at 
the  Bettie  Stuart  Institute,  and  exhibited  some  very  fine 
specimens  of  her  wares,  which  attracted  wide  attention. 
Mrs.  Jacobus  is  a gifted  woman,  and  combines  with  her 
work  the  highest  order  of  intelligence. 


CHAPTER  LX, 

CORPORATIONS  IN  THE  COURTS, 


Public  Warehouses— Railway  Charges— Taxing  National  Bank  Stock— Taxing 

Franchises. 


We  have  already  noticed  legislative  enactments  for  the 
control  and  government  of  railway  companies  and  public 
warehouses  by  the  State,  for  taxing  the  shares  of  stock  in 
National  Banks  and  other  corporations.  We  now  proceed 
to  examine,  to  some  extent,  the  course  of  the  judiciary  in 
the'  exposition  and  enforcement  of  such  laws ; and  here  we 
may  safely  say,  that  the  courts  of  our  State  have  been  fore- 
most in  establishing  the  constitutionality  of  such  legisla- 
tion, and  determining  the  powers  of  the  State  in  respect  to 
corporations.  James  K.  Edsall  was  the  Attorney-General 
of  the  State  when  the  constitutionality  of  many  of  these 
laws  was  strongly  questioned  by  the  powerful  organizations 
they  were  designed  to  regulate  and  control.  The  general 
current  or  tendency  of  legal  and  j udicial  opinion  seems  to 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


455 


have  been  against  much  of  such  legislation.  The  oppo- 
nents of  such  laws  confidently  expected  that  the  courts 
would  hold  them  unconstitutional  and  void,  and  it  may  be 
said,  that  a majority  of  their  supporters  and  advocates  had 
but  slight  hopes  of  a favorable  decision  of  the  courts.  The 
judiciary  was  appealed  to,  both  by  the  opponents  and  the 
defenders  of  such  laws,  and  many  difficult  and  complicated 
questions  were  raised  and  presented,  and  argued  elaborate- 
ly, and  they  were  carefully  and  closely  considered  and 
decided  by  our  courts  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  so  that  now  the  power  of  the  people,  through  their 
State  governments,  to  pass  and  enforce  all  useful  and 
proper  laws  for  the  regulation,  control  and  taxation  of  cor- 
porations, may  be  regarded  as  firmly  established.  We  will 
not  state,  in  detail,  the  various  cases  involving  constitu- 
tional questions,  but  will  give  the  leading  points  of  the  most 
important  of  them. 

Power  to  Regulate  Charges  by  Public  Warehouses. 

Munn  v.  Illinois , 94  U.  S.  113.  John  N.  Jewett  and  W.  C.  Goudy  for  the 
Warehousemen. 

This  case  involved  the  validity  of  the  act  passed  in  1871, 
regulating  the  inspection  and  the  storage  of  grain  in  the 
public  warehouses,  and  prescribing  the  maximum  charges 
for  storage. 

These  warehouses  or  elevators  were  private  property, 
owned  by  individuals  or  firms.  It  was  claimed  that  the 
State  had  no  more  right  to  fix  the  maximum  price  the 
owners  might  charge  for  the  use  of  their  property  for  the 
storage  of  grain,  than  it  had  to  fix  the  price  at  which  lands 
might  be  leased,  or  the  goods  of  the  merchant  or  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  farm  or  manufactory  might  be  sold.  It  was 
also  claimed  that  vast  sums  of  money  had  been  expended 
in  the  building  of  these  grain  elevators  which  would  be  of 
no  value  for  any  other  use,  and  that  if  power  existed  in  the 


456 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Legislature  'to  fix  the  maximum  rates  of  storage,  the  rates 
might  be  fixed  so  low  as  to  render  the  property  valueless, 
which  would  in  effect  deprive  the  owner  of  his  property 
without  just  compensation,  in  violation  of  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

The  case  was  submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  1872, 
before  Mr.  Edsall  became  Attorney- General.  On  the  au- 
thority of  judges  of  that  court  who  have  since  retired  from 
the  bench,  we  are  assured  that  when  the  case  was  first  con- 
sidered in  conference,  these  objections  to  the  law  were 
considered  unanswerable,  and  it  was  generally  conceded 
that  the  court  would  be  compelled  to  hold  the  act  uncon- 
stitutional. Before  the  cases  had  been  formally  decided,  the 
term  of  one  of  the  judges  of  the  court,  as  then  constituted, 
expired,  and  another  judge  resigned.  Two  new  judges  were 
elected  as  their  successors. 

In  order  to  bring  it  before  the  Court  as  thus  reconstituted, 
a re-argument  of  the  case  was  ordered.  This  afforded  Mr. 
Edsall  an  opportunity  to  prepare  and  file  an  argument  in 
behalf  of  the  State.  He  had,  as  a member  of  the  State 
Senate,  participated  in  the  enactment  of  the  law  in  question, 
and  was  one  of  the  few  who  believed  it  to  be  free  from  any 
valid  constitutional  objection.  He  entered  upon  the  subject 
earnestly,  and  prepared  and  filed  an  argument,  in  which 
he  developed  and  brought  out  into  clear  relief,  the  funda- 
mental principles  upon  which  the  law  rested.  A full  syn- 
opsis of  the  argument  would  require  too  much  space,  but 
the  gist  of  its  leading  points  may  be  stated  thus : It  is  true, 
the  elevator  or  warehouse  is  private  property,  but  the 
owners  have  voluntarily  devoted  it  to  a public  use.  The 
ownership  of  public  property  may  be  private,  while  the  use 
thereof  by  the  owner  may  be  public.  For  example,  the 
ownership  of  property  devoted  to  public  ferries,  wharves, 
or  turnpike  roads,  may  be,  and  frequently  is,  private,  while 
the  use  to  which  such  property  is  put  is  always  public.  The 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


457 


power  of  the  State  to  establish  by  law  the  maximum  rates 
which  the  owner  could  charge  in  this  class  of  cases,  had  been 
long  exercised,  and  the  validity  of  such  laws  had  been  uni- 
formly sustained.  So  also,  as  to  the  power  of  the  State  or 
Government  to  pass  laws  fixing  the  maximum  rates  at  which 
money  might  be  loaned,  and  to  regulate  the  charges  of  dray- 
men, hackmen,  common  carriers,  and  others  pursuing  like 
vocations  of  a public  nature.  It  was  submitted  that  this 
general  proposition  was  sound  in  principle,  and  fairly  de- 
ducible  from  the  authorities.  Whenever  any  person  pur- 
sues a public  calling,  and  sustains  such  relations  to  the 
public  that  the  people  must  necessarily  deal  with,  and  are 
under  a moral  duress  to  submit  to  his  terms  if  he  is  unre- 
strained by  law,  then,  in  order  to  prevent  extortion  and 
an  abuse  of  his  position,  the  price  he  may  charge  for  his 
services,  or  the  use  of  his  property  thus  employed,  may  be 
regulated  by  law.  The  enactment  of  such  laws  was  but  a 
proper  exercise  of  the  police  power  of  the  State. 

It  was  insisted  that  the  undisputed  facts  connected  with 
the  grain  warehouses  in  question,  brought  them  within  a fair 
application  of  this  principle.  Chicago,  if  not  the  greatest, 
was  one  of  the  greatest  grain  markets  of  the  world.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  grain  consigned  to  this  market  for 
sale,  must,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business,  be  stored  in 
these  warehouses,  the  proprietors  of  which  were  few  in  num- 
ber, and  fixed  their  own  rates  for  storage.  The  shipper  or 
owner  had  no  choice  but  to  submit  to  their  terms.  The 
owners  of  the  warehouses  had  voluntarily  devoted  their  prop- 
erty to  this  public  use,  and  the  business  carried  on  by  them 
was  of  such  a nature,  that  they  rested  under  a duty  to  re- 
ceive and  store  grain  for  all  alike,  and  upon  equal  terms. 
It  was  insisted  that  under  such  circumstances,  the  enact- 
ment of  laws  prescribing  maximum  rates  of  storage  and  to 
prevent  extortion,  was  but  a proper  exercise  of  legislative 
power,  and  did  not  deprive  the  warehouseman  of  their  prop- 
erty in  the  constitutional  sense. 


458 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


A majority  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  concurred 
in  this  view,  which  is  the  substance  of  Judge  Breese’s  opin- 
ion. See  69  111.  80.  Two  of  the  Judges  dissented.  The 
cause  was  taken  on  writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  argued  before  that  court  by  Messrs. 
John  N.  Jewett  and  W.  C.  Goudy,  in  behalf  of  the  ware- 
housemen, and  Attorney- General  Edsall  on  the  part  of  the 
State,  at  the  October  term,  1874.  After  holding  the  same 
under  advisement  a year,  Chief  Justice  Waite  delivered  an 
elaborate  opinion  in  the  case,  which  was  concurred  in  by  a 
majority  of  that  court,  affirming  the  judgment  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  and  sustaining  the  power  of  the 
State  to  pass  laws  prescribing  the  maximum  rates  to  be 
charged  for  the  storage  of  grain  by  such  warehousemen. 
(The  case  is  reported  under  the  title  Mann  v.  Illinois , 94 
U.  S.  Bep.  113,  and  is  regarded  as  the  great  leading  case 
upon  this  class  of  questions.) 

Fixing  Maximum  Charges  of  Railways. 

Buggies  v.  The  People,  91  111.  256.  O.  H.  Browning,  B.  C.  Cook  and  H. 
Bigelow  for  the  railway  company. 

Illinois  Central  B.  B.  Co.  v.  The  People,  % 111.  313.  George  Trumbull, 
George  W.  Wall  and  John  N.  Jewett  for  the  corporation. 

The  railroad  maximum  rate  cases  were  of  a similar  char- 
acter. In  obedience  to  the  constitution  of  1870,  the  Legis- 
lature passed  laws,  the  object  of  which  was  to  regulate  the 
charges,  and  prevent  extortion  by  railroad  corporations 
for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight.  The  valid- 
ity of  these  laws  was  denied  by  the  railroad  corporations 
organized  under  acts  of  incorporation  passed  prior  to 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1870,  upon  the  ground 
that  by  the  terms  of  their  charters  the 'corporations  pos- 
sessed the  power  to  fix  their  own  charges ; and  that  these 
provisions  of  their  charters  were  to  be  treated  as  contracts, 
which,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  could 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


459 


not  be  impaired,  or  in  any  manner  interfered  with  by  sub- 
sequent legislation.  There  was  much  litigation  under  these 
laws,  and  it  was  a long  time  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State  fairly  met  and  decided  the  main  questions  in- 
volved. This  delay  may  be  considered  fortunate,  for  un- 
doubtedly the  earlier  impressions  of  the  court,  in  common 
with  the  generally  prevailing  opinion  of  lawyers,  were  ad- 
verse to  this  law,  and  against  its  constitutionality.  The 
longer  the  cases  were  held  under  advisement,  and  the  more 
fully  they  were  considered,  the  more  favorably  were  the 
courts  inclined  to  the  views  presented  in  behalf  of  the  State. 
The  main  fproposition  presented  by  the  Attorney-General 
in  Illinois  Central  R.  R . Co.  v.  The  People , (supra),  and  in 
Ruggles  v.  The  People,  (supra),  was  that  the  power  of  the 
General  Assembly  to  pass  lawsjprescribing  maximum  rates, 
and  to  prevent  extortion  by  railroad  companies,  was  a part 
of  the  police  power  of  the  State,  which  could  not  be  sold  or 
bartered  away;  that  it  was  not  within  the  competency 
of  any  State  Legislature  to  divest  itself  of  such  power 
or  bind  its  successors  by  contract  not  to  exercise  the 
same ; that  legislative  power  was  a trust  to  be  exercised  by 
the  Legislature  of  a State,  but  not  a commodity  to  be  sold  ; 
and  that  therefore  no  valid  contract  could  have  been 
entered  into  that  the  State  would  not,  from  time  to  time, 
in  the  future,  exercise  this  power  whenever  abuses  grew  up 
which  made  its  exercise  expedient.  A majority  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  took  the  same  view  as  that  of 
Mr.  Edsall,  and  sustained  the  validity  of  the  law.  These 
cases  were  also  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  by  the  railroad  corporations  in  interest.  In  this 
court,  Mr.  Edsall  was  opposed  by  John  N.  Jewett,  J.  A. 
Campbell,  of  New  Orleans,  ex-Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court ; Wirt  Dexter,  of  Chicago,  and  Sidney  Bart- 
lett, of  Boston,  who  was  regarded  as  the  head  of  the  New 


460 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


England  bar.  Although  Mr.  Edsall  was  Attorney-General 
eight  years,  these  cases  were  not  reached  for  argument  in 
that  court  until  after  the  expiration  of  his  official  term.  At 
the  suggestion  of  the  late  Justice  Pinkney  H.  Walker,  who 
took  great  interest  in  the  questions  involved,  and  regarded  a 
favorable  decision  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  people 
of  the  State,  Mr.  Edsall  was  retained  by  the  State  as  coun- 
sel to  argue  the  cases  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  This  he  did  both  in  print  and  orally.  It  is  proper 
to  say  in  this  connection,  that  James  McCartney,  who  had 
succeeded  Mr.  Edsall  as  Attorney-General,  also  filed  briefs 
in  the  two  cases  and  participated  in  the  oral  argument  of 
one  of  them.  There  had  been  several  changes  in  the  per- 
sonnel of  that  court  since  the  decision  of  the  warehouse  case, 
and  great  apprehension  existed  as  to  how  a majority  of  the 
court,  as  then  constituted,  might  stand  on  the  principal 
question  involved.  It  was  thought  advisable  to  present 
every  question  which  would  be  likely  to  conduce  to  a favora- 
ble decision.  Mr.  Edsall  therefore  raised  this  preliminary 
question : That  while  it  was  true  that  the  railroad  charters 
in  question  conferred  upon  the  Board  of  Directors  the  gen- 
eral right  to  prescribe  their  rates  of  charges  for  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers  and  freight,  yet  a fair  construction 
of  the  charters  of  the  companies  only  authorized  the  compa- 
nies to  collect  such  rates  as  they  should  by  their  by-laws 
determine.  There  was  another  provision  of  the  charter  in 
each  case,  to  the  effect  that  the  by-laws,  rules  and  regulations 
adopted  by  the  company  should  not  be  “repugnant  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  State” 
It  was  urged  that  the  proper  construction  of  these  various 
provisions  of  the  charter,  when  taken  as  a whole,  was  that 
the  by-laws  of  the  company,  fixing  its  rates  of  charges,  must 
not  be  repugnant  to,  i.  e.,  must  not  exceed,  the  maximum 
rates  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  State.  Under  this  in- 
terpretation of  the  charter,  the  same  could  not  be  construed 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


461 


as  a contract  that  the  State  would  not  pass  laws  prescribing 
maximum  rates,  whatever  might  be  held  as  to  the  power 
of  the  Legislature  to  make  such  a contract.  The  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  sustained  this  construction  of  the 
charter  in  each  case,  and  upon  that  ground  affirmed  the 
judgments  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  The  decision 
of  this  question  being  sufficient  to  dispose  fully  of  the  cases, 
the  court  refrained  from  discussing  or  expressing  any  opin- 
ion upon  the  main  question,  upon  which  they  were  decided 
in  the  State  Court.  It  would  undoubtedly  have  been  more 
satisfactory  if  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  had 
directly  passed  upon  the  principal  question,  and  held  that 
a State  Legislature  possessed  no  authority  to  make  a con- 
tract binding  its  successors  not  to  exercise  legislative  powers 
of  this  nature.  The  result  is  essentially  the  same.  The 
power  of  the  State  to  exercise  legislative  control  over  these 
old  corporations  organized  under  special  charters  is  practi- 
cally sustained. 

Taxing  National  Bank  Stock. 

Tappan  v.  Merchants'  National  Bank,  19  Wall.  490.  M.  W.  Fulleb  for  the 
bank. 

In  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress 
providing  for  the  formation  of  National  Banking  Associa- 
tions, the  Statutes  of  Illinois  made  provision  for  the  tax- 
ation of  the  shares  of  stock  in  the  National  Banks,  and 
made  such  tax  a lien  upon  the  dividends,  payable  to  the 
shareholders  from  whom  the  tax  was  due,  and  required  the 
banks  to  furnish  the  Assessor  with  a list  of  its  shareholders, 
with  the  amount  of  the  shares  of  stock  held  by  each,  and  to 
pay  the  tax  assessed  thereon  from  the  dividends  payable 
upon  such  stock.  In  an  elaborate  opinion,  published  in  the 
Legal  News  of  August  1.9,  1871,  Judge  Blodgett,  presiding  in 
the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Northern 
District  of  Illinois,  held  that  the  laws  of  the  State  providing 


462 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


for  the  levy  and  collection  of  such  taxes  were  unconstitu- 
tional, and  thereupon  granted  injunctions  restraining  the 
collection  of  such  taxes  in  all  cases  where  any  bank  would 
apply  therefor.  The  result  was  that  no  taxes  could  be  col- 
lected from  any  of  these  banks  in  the  State,  except  so  far 
as  they  saw  fit,  voluntarily,  to  pay  the  same.  By  filing  a 
short  bill,  in  a prescribed  form  in  one  of  the  United  States 
Courts,  any  bank  could  obtain  an  injunction.  Most  of 
these  banks  availed  themselves  of  this  mode  of  evading  tax- 
ation, but,  to  their  credit  be  it  said,  a few  of  them  volun- 
tarily paid  their  taxes.  When  Mr.  Edsall  assumed  the 
office  of  Attorney-General,  in  1873,  there  were  seventy-nine 
of  these  cases  pending  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  of 
the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  and  several  others  in  the 
Southern  District.  After  a careful  examination  of  the 
questions  involved,  the  Attorney- General  was  satisfied  that 
the  laws  under  which  the  taxes  were  assessed  were  valid, 
and  that  the  injunctions  restraining  the  collection  of  taxes 
ought  to  be  dissolved.  At  the  May  term,  1873,  he  fully 
argued  the  question,  upon  principle  and  authority,  before 
Judge  Blodgett,  but  the  court  declined  to  change  its  former 
ruling.  It  became  necessary,  therefore,  to  take  one  of  the 
cases  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  to  settle 
the  legal  questions  in  dispute.  The  case  of  Tappan , Col- 
lector , v.  Merchants'  National  Bank , 19  Wall.  490,  was  the 
result.  The  Supreme  Court,  in  an  opinion  delivered  by 
Chief  Justice  Waite,  overruled  Judge  Blodgett’s  decision 
and  sustained  the  right  of  the  State  to  tax  the  shares  of 
stock  in  National  Banks.  The  case  was  argued  by  Mr. 
Edsall  for  the  State,  and  by  M.  W.  Fuller  for  the  bank. 
It  so  happened  that  it  was  the  first  case  argued  before  Chief 
Justice  Waite,  and  that  he  delivered  his  first  opinion  in  that 
case  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  The  opinion  attracted  much  attention,  and  was 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


463 


highly  commended  for  its  signal  ability.  After  this  de- 
cision all  the  pending  injunctions  were  dissolved,  and  no 
more  were  granted.  Since  that  time  the  banks  have  paid 
their  taxes  with  commendable  promptitude. 

Taxing  Franchises  and  other  Property  of  Corporations. 

Porter  et  al.  v.  B.,  B.  &I.  St.  Louis  B,  B . Co.,  76  111.  561.  Chaeles  Osboene 
for  the  railway  corporation. 

The  corporation’s  capital  stock  cases  sprung  up  under  the 
State  revenue  law,  passed  in  1872.  They  were  very  numer- 
ous, and  burdened  the  dockets  of  the  State  and  Federal 
Courts  for  several  years.  Prior  to  the  enactment  of  that 
law  a conviction  was  quite  prevalent  that  corporations  had 
not  paid  their  due  share  of  taxes.  A large  part  of  their 
property  was  intangible,  and  consisted  in  their  franchises, 
or  existed  in  such  form  that  the  assessor  could  not  find  it. 
For  example,  a gas  company  in  a city  like  Chicago  might 
have  but  a small  amount  of  visible  property,  yet  it  might 
have  hundreds  of  miles  of  gas  mains  laid  in  the  streets  and 
alleys  of  the  city ; and  the  property  and  franchises  of  the 
corporation  might  be  sufficient  to  pay  good  dividends  upon 
millions  of  capital.  The  object  of  the  revenue  law  of  1872 
was  to  reach  these  hidden  values.  The  plan  adopted  was, 
in  short,  this : 

1.  To  assess  the  tangible  property  the  same  as  other 
property. 

2.  To  ascertain  the  amount  or  value  of  indebtedness  of 
the  corporation,  exclusive  of  indebtedness  for  current  ex- 
penses. 

3.  To  ascertain  the  market  or  actual  value  of  all  the 
shares  of  stoek  in  the  corporation. 

Under  the  rules  adopted  by  the  State  Board  of  Equaliza- 
tion, these  last  two  items  were  added  together,  and  the  sum 


464 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  the  two  was  supposed  to  represent  the  value  of  every- 
thing the  corporation  owned,  whether  tangible  or  in- 
tangible. From  this  amount  the  assessed  value  of  the 
tangible  property  wras  deducted,  and  the  residue,  after 
equalizing  it  upon  the  ascertained  basis  of  the  assessment 
of  other  property,  was  assessed  under  the  head  of  capital 
stock ; the  theory  being  this,  that  the  indebtedness  of  the 
corporation  was  a first  charge  and  lien  upon  everything 
the  corporation  owned,  as  against  its  stockholders ; that  if 
the  indebtedness  equaled  or  exceeded  the  value  of  all  its 
property  and  franchises,  the  shares  of  stock  would  be  worth- 
less, and  that  if  the  shares  of  stock  had  any  value,  such 
value  might  be  taken  as  an  indication  that  everything 
owned  by  the  corporation  necessarily  exceeded  its  indebted- 
ness in  precisely  that  amount.  It  must  be  confessed,  that 
in  the  application  of  this  rule,  the  Board  of  Equalization 
of  1878  assessed  some  of  the  corporations  very  high,  and 
may  have  done  injustice  in  many  cases.  When  these  taxes 
came  to  be  collected,  the  law  and  the  action  of  the  State 
Board  of  Equalization  were  attacked  on  every  side.  A large 
array  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  State  was  retained  by 
the  corporations  to  defeat  the  collection  of  the  tax,  and  to 
break  down  the  entire  system.  The  contest  began  in  the 
State  courts,  and  several  cases  were  brought  before  the 
Supreme  Court  at  an  early  day,  and  argued  by  the  Attorney- 
General  in  behalf  of  the  State.  To  the  consternation  of  the 
opponents  of  the  tax,  that  court  sustained  the  validity  of 
the  law,  and  the  principle  upon  which  the  taxes  were 
assessed.  The  opinion  in  this  case  was  written  by  Justice 
Scholfield,  and  is  a very  able  one,  in  which  the  various  con- 
stitutional objections  are  fully  examined  and  elaborately 
discussed. 

Resort  was  then  had  to  the  Federal  Courts.  Although 
the  taxes  were  assessed  against  State  corporations  which 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


465 


could  not  sue  in  the  Federal  Courts,  each  corporation  which 
did  not  already  have,  would  arrange  to  have,  one  or  more 
non-resident  stockholders,  who  would  get  up  the  ruse  of  a 
controversy  between  themselves  and  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  corporation  about  the  payment  of  the  tax.  The 
board  of  directors  would  formally  refuse  to  take  proceed- 
ings to  enjoin  its  collection,  by  reason  of  which,  under  the 
rulings  of  the  Federal  Courts  at  that  time,  they  would  enter- 
tain jurisdiction  of  suits  brought  by  the  non-resident  stock- 
holders to  restrain  the  collection  of  the  taxes.  The  Federal 
Circuit  Court  refused  to  be  governed  by  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  in  this  class  of  cases,  and 
awarded  injunctions  to  all  persons  who  would  apply  there- 
for. This  placed  the  State  and  all  its  municipal  corpora- 
tions under  the  supervision  of  the  Federal  Courts  in  the 
collection  of  their  revenue,  and  caused  a suspension  of  the 
collection  of  all  taxes  against  corporations,  which  soon 
amounted  to  millions  of  dollars. 

Final  decrees  perpetually  enjoining  the  collection  of  the 
taxes  assessed  against  three  of  the  leading  railroad  cor- 
porations were  entered  by  Judge  Drummond  in  the  U.  S. 
Circuit  Court  at  Chicago,  from  which  the  Attorney- 
General  prosecuted  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  He  procured  the  cases  to  be  advanced,  and 
they  were  brought  on  for  argument  in  1875.  The  corpora- 
tions were  represented  by  the  ablest  legal  talent  their  re- 
sources could  command.  Among  the  attorneys  for  the 
corporations  in  these  cases  appear  the  names  of  Corydon 
Beckwith,  C.  B.  Lawrence,  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  0.  H.  Brown- 
ing and  Wirt  Dexter.  The  State  was  represented  by  its 
Attorney-General.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  cases  were 
ably  argued.  The  opinion  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  was  delivered  by  Miller,  J.,  and  is  reported  in  92  U.  S. 

at  page  575,  under  the  title  State  Railroad  Tax  Cases . The 
—80 


466 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


decision  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  enjoining  the 
collection  of  the  taxes  was  reversed,  with  directions  that 
the  bills  be  dismissed ; and  the  right  of  the  State  to  tax  its 
corporations  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  revenue  law 
of  1872,  was  fully  vindicated.  It  was  held,  moreover,  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  Federal  Courts  to  conform  their 
rulings  to  the  decisions  of  the  State  Courts  upon  the  class 
of  questions  involved,  which  arose  under  the  Constitution 
and  statutes  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER  LXL 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1884. 


Conventions,  State  and  National— Electoral  Vote  of  the  States— Appointments 
by  the  President  from  niinois— Statement  of  the  United  States  Treasurer- 
Official  Vote— Election  Frauds— Trial  and  Conviction  of  Joseph  C.  Mackin. 


In  the  political  campaign  of  1884  there  were  four  parties 
claiming  the  suffrages  of  the  people — the  Republican,  Dem- 
ocratic, Prohibition  and  People’s — the  latter  was  the  suc- 
cessor to  the  Greenback  party.  It  being  the  year  of  the 
Presidential  election,  to  choose  a successor  to  President 
Arthur,  the  contest  in  the  State  became  one  of  National 
importance,  rather  than  State.  The  candidates  for  Pres- 
ident of  the  respective  parties  are  named  in  the  order  in 
which  they  were  nominated.  The  People’s  party  nominated 
for  President,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Absalom  M.  West,  of  Mississippi,  for  Vice-President ; the 
Republican  party  nominated  for  President,  James  G.  Blaine, 
of  Maine,  and  for  Vice-President,  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois; 
the  Democratic  party  nominated  for  President,  Grover  Cleve- 
land, of  New  York,  and  for  Vice-President,  Thomas  A.  Hen- 
dricks, of  Indiana,  and  the  Prohibition  party  nominated  for 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


467 


President,  John  P.  St.  John,  of  Kansas,  and  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent, William  Daniel,  of  Maryland.  This  campaign  exceed- 
ed, in  general  interest  and  excitement,  anything  that  has 
ever  been  witnessed  in  this  country,  far  surpassing  that 
between  Harrison  and  VanBuren  in  1840,  when  the  watch- 
word of  the  Whig  party  was  “Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too.” 
Illinois  was  for  months  the  scene  of  the  most  wonderful  ex- 
citement ever  witnessed  in  all  her  history.  Every  city, 
every  town,  every  hamlet,  nay,  every  home,  was  the  scene  of 
angry  political  discussion.  Three  of  the  four  candidates 
for  President — Butler,  St.  John  and  Blaine — made  par- 
tial canvasses  of  the  State,  and  all  the  candidates  for  Vice- 
President  made  more  or  less  speeches  within  the  State,  while 
the  several  candidates  for  State  and  district  offices  were 
heard  almost  continually  proclaiming  from  the  rostrum,  in 
all  parts  of  the  State,  the  justness  of  their  cause,  and  men 
and  women  alike  became  interested  in  the  struggle,  women 
being  as  often  seen  in  the  processions  at  night  as  in  the  day- 
time,— sometimes  in  chariots,  sometimes  on  horseback  with 
banners,  and  sometimes  on  foot,  carrying  the  flaming  toich* 
But  notwithstanding  the  great  interest  in  the  National 
election,  there  was  a strong  contest  between  the  Democratic 
and  Republican  parties  as  to  who  should  possess  the  State 
offices.  The  nominees  of  the  Republican  party  were  the 
first  in  the  field ; they  were  all  men  of  high  character,  and 
all  had  served  the  State  in  different  capacities  ably  and  ac- 
ceptably. R.  J.  Oglesby,  candidate  for  Governor,  had  been 
a soldier  in  two  wars,  a Senator  in  the  General  Assembly, 
twice  Governor  of  the  State  and  Senator  in  Congress,  and 
was  accounted  the  most  popular  leader  of  his  party,  having 
received  the  nomination  by  acclamation;  John  C.  Smith, 
candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  a soldier,  and  was 
serving  his  second  term  as  State  Treasurer ; H.  D.  Dement, 
candidate  for  re-election  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
was  a soldier,  and  had  been  both  Representative  and  Senator 


468 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


in  the  General  Assembly ; Chas.  P.  Swigert,  candidate  for  re- 
election  to  the  office  of  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  had  been 
a soldier  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  losing  an  arm,  and  had 
held  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  Kankakee  County  for  eleven 
years  in  succession;  Jacob  Gross,  candidate  for  State 
Treasurer,  was  a native  of  Germany,  had  been  a soldier  in 
his  adopted  country  and  lost  a leg  in  defence  of  its  flag, 
and  had  held  the  office  of  Circuit  Clerk  of  Cook  County 
twelve  years;  George  Hunt,  candidate  for  Attorney-General, 
had  also  been  a soldier  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  and  was 
serving  his  third  term  as  State  Senator. 

To  oppose  this  ticket,  the  Democrats  were  careful  in  the 
selection  of  their  candidates.  Men  of  equal  high  character 
were  chosen  for  all  the  places.  Carter  H.  Harrison,  their 
candidate  for  Governor,  was  esteemed  the  ablest  and  most 
formidable  that  could  be  arrayed  against  Oglesby ; he  was  a 
graduate  of  Yale  College ; had  represented  a Chicago  dis- 
trict in  the  Forty-fourth  and  Forty-fifth  Congresses ; had 
been  three  times  in  succession  elected  Mayor  of  Chicago  by 
unprecedented  majorities,  receiving  a majority  of  10,300  in 
April,  1883,  and  was  serving  his  third  term  when  nominated 
for  Governor ; Henry  Seiter,  candidate  for  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, was  a man  of  like  good  standing,  had  been  Represen- 
tative and  Senator  in  the  General  Assembly,  was  then  serv- 
ing a term  in  the  Senate ; Michael  Dougherty,  candidate  for 
Secretary  of  State,  although  a native  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
a true  representative  of  the  Irish  race,  and  withal  a popular 
man  with  his  party;  Walter  E.  Carlin,  a nephew  of  ex-Gov. 
Carlin,  candidate  for  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  had  served 
in  the  war  for  the  Union,  was  a Representative  in  the  Thirty- 
third  General  Assembly,  and  had  received  the  nomination 
for  re-election  without  opposition  when  nominated  for 
Auditor;  Alfred  Orendorff,  candidate  for  State  Treasurer, 
had  been  Representative  in  the  General  Assembly,  was  the 
candidate  of  his  party  in  1882  for  State  Treasurer  against 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


469 


John  C.  Smith,  and  made  a gallant  fight  for  the  place ; 
Robert  L.  McKinlay,  candidate  for  Attorney- General,  was  a 
lawyer  of  distinction,  and  had  acquired  a wide  acquaintance 
while  serving  as  a Representative  in  the  Thirtieth  General 
Assembly. 

With  the  other  two  parties  there  was  no  contest  as  to 
who  should  lead  them, — the  greatest  difficulty  was  to  find 
men  willing  to  lead  a forlorn  hope ; but  reputable  men  were 
put  up  by  both  parties,  the  Prohibitionists  nominating 
James  B.  Hobbs,  of  Cook,  for  Governor;  Jas.  L.  Perryman, 
of  St.  Clair,  for  Lieutenant-Governor;  Charles  W.  Enos,  of 
Jersey,  for  Secretary  of  State ; Alexander  B.  Irwin,  of  San- 
gamon, for  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts ; Uriah  Copp,  Jr., 
of  Iroquois,  for  State  Treasurer,  and  Hale  Johnson,  of  Jas- 
per, for  Attorney-General. 

The  People’s  party  nominated  Jesse  Harper,  of  Vermilion, 
for  Governor;  Asaph  C.  Vandewater,  of  Christian,  for 
Lieutenant-Governor;  Horace  E.  Baldwin,  for  Secretary  of 
State;  Edwin  F.  Reeves,  for  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts; 
Ben.  W.  Goodhue,  for  State  Treasurer,  and  John  N.  Gwin, 
for  Attorney-General.  With  such  an  array  of  standard- 
bearers,  the  people  went  forth  to  battle.  The  prize  with  the 
Democratic  party  seemed  to  be  the  office  of  Governor. 
The  Republican  party  had  carried  the  State  in  1880  by  a 
majority  of  40,716  for  Garfield  for  President,  over  Han- 
cock, and  87,033  for  Cullom,  for  Governor,  over  Trumbull. 
The  battle  between  Oglesby  and  Harrison  was  a bitter  war 
of  words.  Everywhere  there  was  a demand  for  them  to 
speak,  so  much  so,  that  their  respective  committees  kept  them 
traveling  day  in  and  day  out,  often  compelling  them  to 
travel  hundreds  of  miles  to  meet  their  appointments,  and 
not  infrequently  were  they  required  to  retrace  their  steps  in 
order  that  they  might  meet  the  urgent  demands  of  their 
respective  followers.  Illustrative  of  this,  Oglesby  spoke  at 


470 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Quincy  one  day,  and  the  same  night  took  the  train  for  Chi- 
cago, speaking  in  that  city  the  next  evening,  when  he  took 
the  train  for  Belleville,  thus  traveling  five  hundred  miles  and 
making  four  speeches  within  forty-eight  hours.  The  result 
of  this  heated  contest  was  that  while  the  Republicans  elect- 
ed their  entire  State  ticket,  the  majority  for  Oglesby  over 
Harrison  was  only  14,599,  while  that  of  his  associates,  over 
their  respective  competitors,  ranged  from  23,269  to  24,564. 
The  majority  for  Blaine  and  Logan  over  Cleveland  and 
Hendricks  was  25,118.  The  total  vote  of  the  Prohibitionists 
for  President  was  12,074;  for  Governor,  10,905.  The  vote 
of  the  People’s  party  for  President  was  10,776,  and  for  Gov- 
ernor 8,605. 

There  were  two  questions  of  State  policy  which  were  of 
vital  importance  to  the  people,  namely,  the  appropriation 
of  $518,712  for  the  completion  of  the  State  House,  and  the 
adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  empower- 
ing the  Governor  to  veto  objectionable  features  of  appro- 
priation bills,  and  yet  not  invalidate  other  portions  of  the 
law.  But  National  questions  so  absorbed  the  thoughts  of 
all  parties  that  these  were  allowed  to  drift  along  with  the 
political  tide,  but  both  received  a majority  of  all  the  votes 
cast;  the  appropriation  carried  by  28,248  majority,  and 
the  constitutional  amendment  by  91,273. 

In  the  contest  for  Congressmen,  there  were  ten  Democrats 
and  ten  Republicans  chosen,  showing  a gain  of  one  for  the 
Democrats  over  the  vote  of  1882. 

The  Legislature  was  a tie,  the  Republicans  carrying  the 
Senate  by  a majority  of  one,  and  the  Democrats  the  House 
by  a like  number. 

In  the  National  contest,  Cleveland  and  Hendricks  received 
219  electoral  votes,  carrying  the  States  of  Alabama,  Arkan- 
sas, Connecticut,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Indiana, 
Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  New 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


471 


Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennes- 
see, Texas,  Virginia  and  West  Virginia.  Of  the  popular 
vote  they  received  4,911,017.  Blaine  and  Logan  received 
182  electoral  votes,  carrying  the  States  of  California,  Col- 
orado, Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Michi- 
gan, Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New  Hampshire,  Ohio, 
Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island  and  Vermont.  Of  the 
popular  vote  they  received  4,848,884.  Butler  and  West  re- 
ceived of  the  popular  vote  133,825 ; St.  John  and  Daniel 
received  of  the  popular  vote  151,809.  The  total  popular  vote 
was  10,048,061.  There  were  scattering  11,362. 

The  defeat  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  Nation  was 
history  repeating  itself,  but  whether  it  shall  be  the  history 
of  1840,  when  the  Whigs  succeeded  in  electing  Harrison 
over  Van  Buren,  retiring  the  Democratic  party  from  power 
for  four  years;  or  whether  it  shall  be  the  history  of  1860, 
when  the  Republican  party  elected  Abraham  Lincoln  Presi- 
dent, retiring  the  Democratic  party  from  power  for  twenty- 
four  years,  depends  upon  the  conduct  of  the  victors. 

Thus  far,  however,  the  policy  of  the  President  has  not 
met  the  expectations  of  many  of  the  great  leaders  of 
his  party  in  respect  to  the  removal  of  Republicans  from 
office,  they  holding  the  view  that  the  people  meant  more 
than  the  mere  change  of  the  executive  head  of  the  Nation 
in  electing  a Democrat  to  the  Presidency;  that  is,  that  it 
meant  that  the  government  of  the  country  should  go  into 
the  hands  of  the  Democratic  party  in  fact ; that  all  Repub- 
licans should  go  out  of  office  and  Democrats  go  in.  In 
disposing  of  positions  at  Washington,  the  President  has 
been  liberal  toward  Illinois,  notwithstanding  he  did  not  carry 
the  electoral  vote  of  the  State.  William  A.  J.  Sparks  was 
made  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office ; John  C.  Black, 
Commissioner  of  Pensions;  William  A.  Day,  Second  Auditor 
of  the  Treasury  Department;  Edwin  A.  Clifford,  Deputy 


472 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


under  the  Sixth  Auditor;  A.  E.  Stevenson,  First  Assistant 
Postmaster  General;  John  H. Oberly, Superintendent  of 
Indian  Schools,  and  afterward  promoted  to  Civil  Service 
Commissioner  and  again  to  Indian  Commissioner. 

When  Mr.  Wyman,  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  turned 
over  the  office  to  Mr.  Jordan,  his  successor,  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1885,  his  accounts  were  found  correct  in  every  regard, 
and  there  was  then  in  the  treasury,  subject  to  the  demands 
of  the  country,  $483,932,566.09,  which  fact  must  serve  to 
strengthen  the  faith  of  the  people  in  the  purity  of  the 
administration  of  the  National  Government. 


OFFICIAL  VOTE. 


Governor. 

Richard  J.  Oglesby,  R 334,234 

Carter  H.  Harrison,  D 319,635 

Jesse  Harper,  Peop 8,605 

James  B.  Hobbs,  Pro 10,905 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

John  C.  Smith,  R 337,762 

Henry  Seiter,  D 314.493 

Asaph  C.  Vandewater,  Peop 9,7:3 

James  L.  Perryman,  Pro ., 11,360 

Secretary  of  State. 

Henry  D.  Dement,  R 338,240 

Michael  J.  Dougherty,  D 31:, 490 

Horace  E.  Baldwin,  Peop 10,219 

Charles  W.  Enos,  Pro 8,865 

Auditor. 

Charles  P.  Swigert,  R 337,886 

Walter  E.  Carlin,  D 318,322 

Edwin  E.  Reeves,  Peop 10,142 

Alexander  B.  Irwin,  Pro 11,344 

Treasurer. 

Jacob  Gross,  R 338,171 

Alfred  Orendorff,  D 313,400 

Benjamin  W.  Goodhue,  Peop 10,451 

Uriah  Copp,  Jr.,  Pro 11,119 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  473 

Attorney-General. 

George  Hunt,  R 337,847 

Robert  L.  McKinlay,  I) 313,346 

John  W.  Gwin,  Peop  10,251 

Hale  Johnson,  Pro 11,429 

Members  of  Congress — First  District. 

Ransom  W.  Dunham,  R 20,245 

William  M.  Tilden,  D 14,655 

William  B.  Gates 288 

John  B.  Clark 501 

Second  District. 

John  F.  Finerty,  Inch  R 11,552 

Francis  Lawler,  D 13,954 

Wilham  F.  Killett 23 

Third  District. 

Charles  Fitz  Simons,  R 8,928 

James  H.  Ward,  D 15,601 

William  E.  Mason,  R 10,806 

J.  C.  Boyd 259 

J.  E.  Lee 280 

Fourth  District. 

George  E.  Adams,  R 18,333 

John  P.  Aitgeldt,  D 15,291 

H.  W.  Austin 467 

Fifth  District. 

Reuben  Ellwood,  * R 20,500 

Richard  Bishop,  D 9,424 

J.  P.  Bartlett 20 

Sixth  District. 

Robert  R.  Hitt,  R 18,048 

E.  W.  Blaisdell,  D 10,891 

U.  D.  Meacham 242 

Seventh  District. 

Thomas  J.  Henderson,  R 15,498 

James  S.  Eckels,  D 10,689 

H.  H.  Haaff : 712 


♦Albert  J.  Hopkins,  Republican,  was  elected  to  the  49th  Congress  by  a ma- 
jority of  6,000,  over  Richard  Bishop,  Democrat,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  death  of  Mr.  Ellwood. 


474 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Eighth  District. 

Ralph  Plumb,  R . 18,707 

Patrick  G.  Haley,  D 15,953 

H.  J.  Wood 732 

N.  Kilburn 709 

Ninth  District. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  R 16,481 

James  Kirk,  D 13,716 

James  McGrew 627 

Tenth  District. 

Julius  S.  Starr,  R 16,582 

Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  D 16,758 

Royal  Hammond 86 

Eleventh  District. 

Alex.  P.  Petrie,  R 17,864 

William  H.  Neece,  D 18,291 

R.  H.  Broaddus 351 

Twelfth  District. 

Thomas  G.  Black,  R 15,177 

James  M.  Riggs,  D 22,046 

Hiram  J.  Parker 820 

James  A.  Wallace 161 

Thirteenth  District. 

William  M.  Springer,  D 20,808 

James  M.  Taylor,  R 16,971 

Thomas  S.  Knoles 628 

George  P.  Harrington 747 

Fourteenth  District. 

C.  C.  Clark,  D 15,673 

Jonathan  H.  Rowell,  R 18,052 

William  P.  Randolph 1,168 

D.  L.  Brancher 241 

Fifteenth  District. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  R 17,852 

John  C.  Black,  D 17,360 

T.  J.  Thornton 151 

T.  P.  Thornton 183 

Sixteenth  District. 

James  McCartney,  R 16.791 

Silas  Z.  Landes,  D 17,109 

John  W.  Honey 213 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS.  475 

Seventeenth  District. 

JohnR.  Eden,  D 18,402 

Howland  J.  Hamlin,  R 14,576 

John  B.  Cromer 486 

Eighteenth  District. 

Thomas  B.  Needles,  R 15,136 

William  R.  Morrison,  D 17,695 

Henry  D.  Moore 135 

W.  H.  Moore 298 

Nineteenth  District. 

Richard  W.  Townshend,  D 18,296 

Thomas  S.  Ridgway,  R 13,615 

H.  R.  Sherman 373 

Twentieth  District. 

Fountain  E.  Albright,  D 15,788 

John  R.  Thomas,  R 17,890 

Addison  Davis 658 

Electors — Blaine. 

Andrew  Shuman 337,469 

Isaac  Lesem 337,476 

George  Bass 337,470 

John  C.  Tegtmeyer 337,466 

John  M.  Smyth 337,468 

James  A.  Sexton 336,965 

Albert  J.  Hopkins 337,465 

Conrad  J'.  Fry 337,479 

William  H.  Shepard 337,469 

Robert  A.  Childs 337,469 

David  McWilliams 337,472 

Rufus  W. -Miles , 337,466 

John  A.  Harvey 337,468 

Francis  M.  Davis 337,471 

J.  Otis  Humphrey 337,460 

Edward  D.  Blinn 337,470 

William  0.  Wilson 337,470 

Rufus  Cope 337,465 

John  H.  Dunscomb 337,470 

Cicero  J.  Lindly 337,471 

Jasper  Partridge 337,471 

Matthew  J.  Inscore • 337,502 


476  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Cleveland. 

Orlando  B.  Ficklin 312,330 

John  W.  Doane 312,421 

James  FI.  Ward 312,366 

James  Morgan,  Jr . 312,352 

James  K.  Blish 312,359 

George  0.  Harrington 3i2,361 

William  Prentiss 310,105 

Hiram  P.  Shumway 312,368 

James  R.  Cunningham .312,360 

Eugene  B.  Buck 312,358 

Francis  M.  Youngblood 312,353 

William  G.  Ewing 312,351 

James  T.  Healy 312,407 

Harvey  D.  Colvin 312,363 

John  F.  Smith 312,366 

Michael  W.  Shurts 312,359 

George  A.  Wilson 312,362 

Henry  Phillips 312,359 

William  T.  Kirk 312,366 

James  C.  Allen 312,358 

George  Willis  Akins 312,343 

William  K.  Murphy 312,361 

St.  John. 

Thomas  Moulding 15,789 

John  G.  Irwin 11,884 

Benjamin  S.  Mills 12,068 

James  W.  Lee 12,070 

Anthony  Lennon 12,074 

John  Nate 12,074 

Aaron  Gurney 12,074 

Andrew  Hinds 12,074 

William  H.  Tibbies 12,074 

James  P.  Murphy  . 12,074 

William  M.  Hamilton 12,074 

William  Nowlan 12,074 

Richard  Haney 12,073 

William  McBride  12,073 

George  W.  Minier 12,039 

Jerome  W.  Nichols 12,074 

Archibald  Easton 12,073 

Victor  E.  Phillips 12,072 

Henry  B.  Kepley 12,072 

William  Donoho 12,073 

Charles  0.  Drayton 12,073 

Samuel  E.  Evans 12,068 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


477 


Butler. 

John  J.  Hilty 

Edward  C.  Callahan 

Soren  Peterson 

William  Floto 

Stephen  M.  Slade 

Andrew  Ashton 

Simon  Elliott 

Francis  M.  Plumb 

Christopher  C.  Strawn 

Joseph  S.  Barnum 

Bobert  Bennett 

Francis  M.  Grimes 

Henry  M.  Miller 

James  Freeman 

Emile  H.  Langhaus 

Henry  Vanderhoff 

Benjamin  F.  Banning 

William  Harris 

Burden  Pullen 

John  W.  Wayman 

Seymour  F.  Norton 

Charles  Yorhis 


9,208 

10,803 

9,676 

8,114 

10,658 

10,246 

10,853 

10,776 

10,894 

10.907 

6,873 

10,910 

10,889 

10,889 

5,454 

5,800 

10,662 

10,235 

10,705 

9,528 

9,345 

10,164 


Mackin  Election  Fraud. 

The  history  of  the  campaign  of  1884  had  an  alarming  and 
disgraceful  sequel.  The  returns  made  by  the  Judges  and 
Clerks  of  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District,  to  the  County  Can- 
vassing Board  of  Cook  County,  on  the  5th  of  November, 
showed  that  Henry  W.  Leman,  Republican  candidate  for 
State  Senator,  had  been  elected  by  a majority  of  390,  but 
when  these  returns  were  canvassed  by  the  County  Board,  it 
appeared  that  the  figures  had  been  so  changed  in  the 
Eighteenth  Ward  of  Chicago  as  to  elect  Rudolph  Brand, 
Democrat,  instead  of  Leman,  by  a majority  of  10.  The 
fraud  was  so  flagrant  that  it  startled  the  people  of  the  entire 
State.  It  changed  the  political  complexion  of  the  Senate 
from  a Republican  majority  of  one  to  a Democratic  majority 
of  one,  and  secured  for  the  Democrats  a majority  of  two  on 
joint  ballot  in  the  General  Assembly,  thus  making  certain 
the  election  of  a Democratic  United  States  Senator. 


478 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  returns  showing  this  state  of  facts  were  sent  by  the 
County  Canvassing  Board  to  the  State  Canvassing  Board, 
at  Springfield,  but  the  latter,  being  aware  that  fraud  had 
been  committed,  declined  to  certify  to  the  election  of 
Brand,  thus  leaving  the  responsibility  of  issuing  the  certifi- 
cate of  election  with  Governor  Hamilton, 

The  Governor  had  previously  used  the  utmost  care  in 
arriving  at  the  facts  in  the  case.  He  had  visited  Chicago, 
and  spent  some  time  in  examining  the  poll  books  and  tally 
sheets ; having  at  the  same  time  become  convinced  of  the 
facts  of  the  case,  as  developed  before  the  United  States 
Grand  Jury,  as  hereafter  shown,  and  having  thus  satisfied 
himself  that  a grave  and  daring  fraud  had  been  perpetrated 
upon  the  voters  of  that  Senatorial  district,  he  disregarded 
the  face  of  the  returns,  and  issued  the  certificate  of  election 
to  Henry  W.  Leman,  accompanying  his  decision  with  an 
able  and  exhaustive  report,  in  which  he  reviewed,  in  detail, 
all  the  facts  and  circumstances  connected  with  the  matter, 
closing  his  decision  with  these  manly  words  : 

“I,  therefore,  find  said  Henry  W.  Leman  to  be  duly  elect- 
ed State  Senator  from  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District.  To 
arrive  at  any  other  conclusion  would,  in  my  judgment,  be 
to  violate  my  oath  of  office  to  support  the  Constitution  and 
see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed.  On  the  contrary, 
I would,  by  issuing  a certificate  to  Mr.  Brand,  be  giving  life 
and  effect  and  success  to  one  of  the  greatest  crimes  ever 
known  in  the  history  of  the  State.  It  has  been,  and  may 
yet  be,  urged  that  such  decision  as  I hereby  render  is 
without  precedent  among  my  predecessors  in  the  State. 
That  may  be.  But  I answer  that  it  may  be  said,  to  the 
great  credit  of  the  people  of  the  State,  that  there  is  no  pre- 
cedent in  the  commission  of  suc-h  a heinous  crime  as  this 
upon  the  elective  franchise  and  rights  of  popular  govern- 
ment in  the  history  of  the  State.  That  I have  a right  to 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


479 


construe  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  as  to  the  duties 
pertaining  to  my  office,  and  am  clothed  with  power  to  do  so, 
independent  of  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, is  established  by  the  best  of  authority.” 

Mr.  Brand,  supported  by  able  counsel,  made  a show  of 
contesting  the  seat  of  Mr.  Leman  before  the  State  Canvass- 
ing Board,  but  when  it  became  evident  to  everybody  that 
the  attempt  to  claim  the  seat  of  Mr.  Leman  was  simply  an 

effort  to  disfranchise  the  voters  of  the  Sixth  Senatorial  Dis- 

» 

trict,  then  it  was  that  Mr.  Brand  and  his  friends  quietly 
withdrew  all  proceedings,  thus  sanctioning  the  action  of 
Governor  Hamilton  in  issuing  the  certificate  of  election  to 
Mr.  Leman. 

No  sooner  had  the  perpetration  of  this  fraud  reached  the 
attention  of  Bichard  S.  Tuthill,  United  States  District 
Attorney  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  than  did  he 
institute  prompt  and  vigorous  proceedings  to  bring  the  per- 
petrators of  the  crime  to  justice  by  presenting  the  matter  to 
the  grand  jury  of  that  court,  which  was  then  in  session. 
The  facts  which  moved  Mr.  Tuthill  to  action,  are  these: 
On  November  18,  the  Canvassing  Board  of  Cook  County 
reached  the  second  precinct  of  the  eighteenth  ward.  Upon 
the  face  of  the  returns  from  that  precinct  appeared  a mani- 
fest erasure  and  change,  as  follows:  The  vote  for  Senator 
in  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District  was  given  in  the  return  as 
for  Henry  W.  Leman  220  votes  and  for  Rudolph  Brand  474 
votes.  The  figures  “four”  and  “two”  had  been  erased  and 
transposed,  and  it  was  apparent  that  the  true  and  correct 
return  was  for  Henry  W.  Leman  “420  votes”  and  for  Rudolph 
Brand  “274  votes.”  While  the  erasure  and  change  were 
apparent,  the  Canvassing  Board  decided  that  it  must  take 
the  face  of  the  returns  as  conclusive,  and  refused  to  take  evi- 
dence as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  thereof.  Here  it  became  evi- 
dent to  Mr.  Tuthill  that  it  was  his  duty  to  investigate  the 


480 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


matter,  as  the  election  was  held  for  a representative  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  the  United  States  stat- 
utes gave  the  United  States  Courts  full  jurisdiction  over 
frauds  at  such  elections,  a jurisdiction  which  was  in  no 
respect  weakened  by  the  fact  that  State  officers  were  voted 
for  at  the  same  election.  Accordingly,  on  the  21st  day  of 
November  he  had  a subpoena  duce  tecum  issued  out  of  the 
United  States  District  Court,  directed  to  Michael  W.  Eyan, 
County  Clerk  of  Cook  County,  Illinois,  ordering  him  to  ap- 
pear before  the  grand  jury  forthwith,  and  produce  the  returns 
of  said  precinct,  including  the  ballots.  In  answer  to  this 
subpoena,  Mr.  Eyan  appeared  with  the  poll-books  and  tally- 
lists,  on  the  afternoon  of  November  21st,  and  told  the  grand 
jury  that  he  doubted  his  right  to  produce  the  ballots.  He 
was  informed  in  reply  that  the  ballots  must  be  produced, 
when  he  agreed  to  bring  them  at  once.  Upon  leaving  the  jury 
room  he  consulted  a lawyer,  and  on  the  same  afternoon  re- 
turned to  the  grand  jury  and  said  that  he  had  been  advised 
by  counsel  not  to  produce  the  ballots,  and  consequently  he 
would  not  do  so. 

On  November  22,  Mr.  Tuthill  applied,  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  for  a rule  on  Mr.  Eyan  to  show  cause  why  he 
should  not  be  attached  for  contempt  for  failing  to  obey  the 
subpoena  of  the  court.  The  rule  was  granted  and  made 
returnable  on  Monday,  November  24,  at  10  A.  M.,  on  which 
day  Mr.  Eyan  appeared  by  his  counsel,  A.  W.  Green,  and 
contested  the  right  of  the  grand  jury  to  have  and  open  the 
ballots,  on  the  ground  that  they  must  be  kept  intact  and 
unopened  by  the  County  Clerk  for  a period  of  six  months 
in  case  a contest  should  arise.  Arguing  to  the  same  end 
appeared  Allan  C.  Story,  who  stated  that  he  represented 
Mr.  McAuliff,  a defeated  candidate  for  Eepresentative  in 
the  Legislature,  and  who  had  been  voted  for  at  that  elec- 
tion. The  Court,  however,  ordered  the  ballots  to  be  pro- 
duced on  the  following  day,  November  25th. 


LIB»A(?V 
OF  THE 

'inweo^tTy  OF  tLiNAfg. 


/ 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  481 

This  subpoena  to  Mr.  Eyan  was  served  on  him  at  about 
1 : 45  p.  m.,  on  November  21st.  At  about  2 p.  m.  the  same 
day  Joseph  C.  Mackin,  who  had  been  present  when  the  ser- 
vice was  made,  went  to  the  office  of  P.  L.  Hanscom  Print- 
ing Company  and  ordered  a ticket  printed  in  fac-simile  of 
the  Eepublican  ticket  used  in  the  Eighteenth  Ward,  with 
the  exception  that  the  name  of  Eudolph  Brand  was  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  Henry  W.  Leman,  as  a candidate  for 
Senator  in  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District.  This  order  was 
accepted  by  the  printing  company,  who  in  turn  ordered  an 
engraved  heading  for  the  ticket  from  Baker  & Co.,  en- 
gravers. The  ticket  was  printed  by  the  printing  company, 
being  actually  set  up  by  W.  H.  Wright,  and  the  engraving 
was  done  by  S.  W.  Fallis  and  F.  N.  Tucker,  of  the  firm  of 
Baker  & Co. 

The  printing  was  done  on  the  night  of  November  21st, 
and  about  2,000  of  said  tickets  were  delivered  to  Mackin  at 
his  room  in  the  Palmer  House,  Chicago,  at  about  10  o’clock 
-the  same  night. 

The  ballots  were  produced  by  Mr.  Eyan  before  the  grand 
jury  November  25th,  and  at  that  time  there  were  found 
among  them  two  hundred  and  thirty  of  the  spurious  tickets 
which  had  been  printed  November  21st,  seventeen  days  after 
the  election.  The  names  on  the  poll-books  which  corres- 
ponded with  the  numbers  on  the  spurious  tickets  enabled 
the  grand  jury  to  summon  the  persons  who  had  apparently 
voted  these  tickets,  and  they  testified  under  oath  that  they 
had  voted  the  regular  Eepublican  ticket  which  bore  the  name 
of  Henry  W.  Leman,  and  that  they  had  not  before  seen  the 
fraudulent  tickets.  This  was  conclusive.  The  grand  jury, 
as  a result  of  its  investigation,  found  two  indictments,  one 
against  Joseph  C.  Mackin,  Arthur  Gleason  and  Henry  Biehl, 
and  one  against  the  judges  and  clerks  of  election  at  said 

precinct.  The  jury  had  then  been  in  session  thirty-two  days, 
—81 


482 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


a large  portion  of  the  time  being  spent  upon  these  election 
frauds.  Some  time  after  the  discharge  of  the  jury,  which 
occurred  December  12th,  it  was  discovered  that  Wm.  J. 
Gallagher  was  one  of  the  conspirators  and  the  person  who 
h id  dene  the  work  of  forgery.  It  was  then  impracticable  to 
convene  a grand  jury,  as  the  funds  for  that  purpose  were  ex- 
h lusted.  Accordingly,  on  the  20th  day  of  January,  1885, 
an  information  in  regular  form  and  in  accordance  with  all 
previous  precedents  was  filed  in  the  United  States  District 
Court  against  said  Mackin,  Gallagher,  Gleason  and  Biehl. 
They  were  tried  before  Judge  Henry  W.  Blodgett.  Bichard 
S.  Tuthill,  assisted  by  John  B.  Hawley  and  Israel  N.  Stiles, 
appeared  for  the  prosecution.  Mackin  was  defended  by 
David  Turpie,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  and  Frank  D.  Tur- 
ner; Gallagher  by  Henry  Wendell  Thompson;  Gleason  by 
Leonard  Swett  and  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  and  Biehl  by  Wm. 
S.  Young,  Jr. 

The  jury  was  composed  of  the  following  persons : 

John  N.  Hills,  of  Bavenswood,  foreman;  Seymore  M. 
Arnold,  Galesburg ; Charles  Hunt,  Harvard ; Geo.  W.  Par- 
ker. Poplar  Grove;  James  Carr,  Scales  Mound;  Albert  M. 
Weaver,  Peoria;  Charles  E.  Smiley,  Maple  Park;  D.  W. 
Wilson,  Annawan ; Thomas  Brownlee,  Galva ; A.  W.  Thomp- 
son, Pecatonica;  Geo.  B.  Vastine,  Austin,  and  Charles 
Welch,  Thompson. 

The  trial  occupied  a period  of  seventeen  days.  The 
grave  character  of  the  offense,  the  vigor  with  which  the 
prosecution  was  waged,  and  the  eminent  legal  talent  on 
either  side,  attracted,  from  day  to  day,  a large  number  of 
anxious  spectators,  and  many  were  the  speculations  as 
to  what  would  be  the  final  result;  law-abiding  men  felt 
sure  of  conviction,  while  the  friends  of  the  accused  were 
equally  confident  of  acquittal.  But  the  jury  was  not  long 
in  making  up  its  judgment,  when  the  case  closed,  being  out 
only  a few  hours,  when  it  rendered  a verdict  of  guilty  as  to 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


483 


Mackin,  Gallagher  and  Gleason,  and  not  guilty  as  to  Biehl. 
The  defendants’  counsel  entered  a motion  for  a new  trial, 
which  was  heard  by  the  Court,  March  12,  and  overruled. 
Mackin  and  Gallagher  were  sentenced  to  two  years’  impris- 
onment in  the  Joliet  Penitentiary,  and  to  pay  a fine  of  $5,000 
each,  and  stand  committed  till  such  fines  were  paid.  Glea- 
son was  not  then  sentenced,  owing  to  the  absence  of  his 
counsel,  and  his  motion  for  a new  trial  was  left  pending. 

Subsequently,  the  defendants’  attorneys  applied  to  Judge 
Gresham,  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  for  a supersedeas . 
He  decided  that  the  “question  was  of  sufficient  difficulty 
and  importance  to  entitle  the  defendants  to  a writ  of  error 
and  an  order  staying  proceedings  under  the  sentence.” 
Under  this  decision  the  defendants  were  admitted  to  bail. 

The  cause  was  heard  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  John  M.  Harlan 
and  Walter  Q.  Gresham  sitting  as  such  Court.  They  dis- 
agreed on  five  points,  and  at  the  request  of  the  United  States 
District  Attorney  and  the  defendants’  counsel,  their  differ- 
ence of  opinion  was  certified  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States,  at  its  nest  session. 

Retrospective,  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  the  honest,  upright 
citizens  of  Chicago,  irrespective  of  party,  came  forward  with 
manly  courage  in  support  of  District  Attorney  Tuthill,  in 
his  bold  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  against  the  perpetrators 
of  the  infamous  fraud.  There  was  organized  a citizens’ 
committee,  numbering  eighty  members,  of  the  best  citizens, 
and  over  $100,000  was  subscribed  by  the  business  men,  in 
aid  of  the  investigation  and  prosecution.  While  each  mem- 
ber of  this  committee  was  willing  to  see  that  the  law  was 
enforced,  no  matter  who  the  guilty  party  might  be,  yet 
recognizing  the  necessity  of  the  concentration  of  action,  an 


484 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


^executive  committee,  consisting  of  Albert  W.  Day,  Chair- 
man; A.  A.  Carpenter,  0.  S.  A.  Sprague,  Francis  B.  Pea- 
body and  J.  H.  McVicker,  with  Augustus  H.  Burley,  Treas- 
urer, and  John  C.  Ambler,  Secretary,  was  authorized  to  act 
lor  the  whole,  and  to  dare  and  do  that  which  would  best 
•serve  the  ends  of  justice. 

The  work  of  this  executive  committee  was  performed 
fearlessly,  and  while  we  have  no  disposition  to  be  invidious 
in  our  praise  of  individuals,  yet  to  Messrs.  Tuthill,  Hawley 
and  Stiles,  for  their  able  and  manly  prosecution  of  the 
cause,  and  to  Melville  E.  Stone,  for  his  bold  and  timely  ex- 
posure of  the  crime  through  the  columns  of  the  Daily  News , 
ithere  is  due  a high  meed  of  praise. 

Subsequently,  Mackin  was  arraigned  in  the  State  court  for 
the  crime  of  perjury.  In  January,  1885,  a special  grand 
jury  was  called  in  Cook  County  for  the  purpose  of  investi- 
gating election  frauds,  and  in  the  investigation  Joseph  C. 
Mackin  was  called  before  the  jury  as  a witness.  Numerous 
questions  wrere  asked  him  in  regard  to  having  ordered  cer- 
tain spurious  ballots  printed,  and  having  received  them  at 
his  hotel.  He  denied  all  knowledge  of  them,  stating  that  he 
had  never  ordered  any  ballots  printed,  never  received  any 
ballots,  and  never  had  anything  to  do  with  the  matter.  An 
indictment  for  perjury  was  found  against  Mackin,  based  on 
his  testimony.  The  indictment  was  returned  into  court  at 
the  adjournment  of  the  jury  on  the  last  of  January.  The 
case  was  called  before  the  petit  jury  on  the  29th  of  June, 
1885.  Thomas  A.  Moran  presided  as  Judge,  and  there  ap- 
peared on  behalf  of  the  people  Julius  S.  G-rinnell,  State’s 
Attorney,  Joel  M.  Longenecker,  Assistant  State’s  Attorney, 
and  I.  N.  Stiles,  Associate  Counsel.  Emery  A.  Storrs  ap- 
peared on  behalf  of  the  defendant.  On  the  29th  of  June, 
a jury  was  secured,  consisting  of  the  following  persons:  M. 
Homing,  L.  Franke,  Gr.  Samuelson,  Henry  Brusharber, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


485 


John  Saul,  Peter  H.  Nelson,  John  H.  Peters,  Joseph  Myers, 
J.  M.  Arnold,  Henry  Hill,  George  Gray  and  Frank  J,  Gaz- 
zolo.  On  June  80th,  the  testimony  was  heard,  consisting  of 
the  evidence  of  the  printers  from  whom  the  tickets  were 
ordered,  to  the  effect  that  Mackin  did  order  them,  and  the 
special  grand  jurymen  testified  that  Mackin  swore  before 
them  that  he  did  not  know  anything  about  the  tickets.  No 
evidence  whatever  was  introduced  in  behalf  of  the  defend- 
ant. The  case  was  ably  prosecuted,  and  as  ably  defended, 
the  arguments  being  heard  on  July  1st,  and  the  next  day  the 
jury  returned  a verdict  of  guilty,  and  fixed  the  penalty  at 
five  years  in  the  penitentiary  at  hard  labor.  This  was  a 
great  triumph  for  Mr.  Grinnell,  the  leading  counsel  for  the 
State,  as  well  as  for  his  associates,  for  the  reason  that  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Mackin  believed  that  it  was  impossible  to 
convict  him  before  a Cook  county  jury.  An  application  was 
made  for  a new  trial  without  success,  and  the  case  was  car- 
ried to  the  Supreme  Court  upon  a writ  of  error.  It  was 
hoped  by  many  well-meaning  people  that  the  court  would 
decline  to  grant  the  criminal  a hearing,  but  this  tribunal 
being  unwilling  that  Mackin  should  be  made  a political 
martyr,  promptly  granted  his  prayer.  The  people  were  rep- 
resented by  Attorney-General  George  Hunt,  and  Emery  A. 
Storrs  and  John  C.  Eichberg  appeared  for  the  defendant. 
Mr.  Hunt’s  presentation  of  the  case  was  able  and  convinc-  ' 
ing,  while  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Storrs  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of 
his  client  was  one  of  the  many  able  efforts  in  the  life  of  this 
great  lawyer,  who  was  stricken  down  by  death  a few  hours 
after  the  conclusion  of  his  argument.  The  Supreme  Court 
affirmed  the  decision  of  the  lower  court  without  dissent. 
Justice  Scott  delivered  the  opinion,  closing  it  with  these 
significant  words : “Every  phase  of  this  case,  and  every 
point  made  for  a reversal,  have  been  most  carefully  and 
patiently  considered,  and  no  error  has  been  discovered,  nor 
has  any  been  pointed  out  of  sufficient  gravity  to  warrant 


486 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  reversal  of  the  judgment.”  The  opinion  of  the  court 
was  promulgated  November  15th,  and  at  2 :30  p.  m.  on  the 
19th,  Joseph  C.  Mackin  entered  upon  his  five  years’  term  in 
the  penitentiary  at  Joliet. 

In  the  case  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Mackin  was  represented  by  J.  C.  Richberg,  of  Chicago.  It 
was  not  heard  until  early  in  March,  1886,  and  on  the  22d  day 
of  the  same  month,  Justice  Gray  delivered  the  opinion.  The 
Court  held  that  the  crimes  charged  against  Mackin  and 
Gallagher  were  infamous  within  the  meaning  of  the  Consti- 
tution, and  that  defendants  could  not  be  held  to  answer  in 
the  Courts  of  the  United  States,  otherwise  than  by  indict- 
ment by  a Grand  Jury. 

It  has  been  seen,  however,  that  the  trial  in  the  United 
States  Court  was  not  in  vain,  for  it  enabled  the  Governor  to 
prevent  the  disfranchisement  of  the  people  of  the  Sixth  Sen- 
atorial District  in  the  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly,  and 
resulted  in  the  conviction  of  Mackin  in  the  State  Court, 
though  not  on  the  same  charge,  but  none  the  less  grave. 


CHAPTER  LXII. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT- 1885, 


Thirty-Fourth  General  Assembly— Contest  for  Speaker— Action  of  the  Sen- 
ate over  the  Leman-Brand  Resolution  Censuring  Governor  Hamilton— 
Contest  for  United  States  Senator— Work  of  the  Session— State  House. 


Governor — R.  J.  Oglesby. 

Lieutenant-Governor— John  C.  Smith. 

Secretary  of  State — Henry  D.  Dement. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Chas.  P.  Swigert. 
Treasurer — Jacob  Gross. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Henry  Raab. 
Attorney-General — George  Hunt. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


487 


In  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the  House  to  organize 
promptly,  the  State  officers-elect  did  not  qualify  until  Jan- 
uary 30th.  Governor  Oglesby,  upon  assuming  the  duties  of 
the  office  of  Governor  for  the  third  time,  appointed  H.  J. 
Caldwell  his  Private  Secretary.  Governor  Oglesby  is  the 
first  person  who  has  yet  had  the  honor  of  occupying  the 
gubernatorial  chair  of  Illinois  for  the  third  time.  This  calls 
to  mind  the  historical  fact  that  Samuel  Cranston  of  Rhode 
Island  was  elected  twenty-nine  successive  times  Governor  of 
that  Colony.  It  is  remarkable  that  he  should  have  been 
chosen  so  often  amid  the  popular  convulsions  that  swept 
away  every  other  official  in  the  Colony.  He  served  from 
March,  1698,  to  April  26,  1727,  on  which  latter  date  he  died. 
In  Vermont  the  same  person  has  held  the  office  of  Governor 
sixteen  different  times ; in  New  Hampshire,  fourteen ; in 
New  York,  seven;  in  Connecticut  and  Georgia,  five;  in 
Maine  and  Tennessee,  four;  in  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Arkansas,  Nevada  and  Pennsylvania, 
three.  Delaware  is  the  only  State  in  the  Union  which  has 
not  elected  the  same  person  twice  to  the  office  of  Governor. 


Thirty-Fourth  General  Assembly. 

The  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly  convened  January 
7th,  and  consisted  of  the  following  members : 


Senate. 


George  E.  White,  Chicago. 
C.  H.  Crawford,  Chicago. 
John  H.  Clough,  Chicago. 
T.  A.  Cantwell , Chicago. 
W.  H.  Ruger,  Chicago. 
Henry  W.  Leman,  Chicago, 
Wm.  J.  Campbell,  Chicago. 
Ira  R.  Curtiss,  Marengo. 
Wm.  E.  Mason,  Chicago. 

E.  B.  Sumner,  Rockford. 
Thomas  Cloonan , Chicago. 


James  S.  Cochran,  Freeport. 
Millard  B.  Hereley , Chicago. 
Henry  H.  Evans,  Aurora. 

E . B . Shumioay,  Peotone. 

H.  K.  Wheeler,  Kankakee. 
Lyman  B.  Ray,  Morris. 
George  Torrance,  Pontiac. 
William  C.  Snyder,  Fulton. 
Green  P.  Orendorff ’ Hopedale. 
Henry  A.  Ainsworth,  Moline. 
A.  W.  Berggren,  Galesburg. 


488 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


James  W.  Duncan,  Ottawa. 

A . J . Streeter,  New  Windsor. 

L.  D.  Whiting,  Tiskilwa. 
Andrew  J.  Bell,  Peoria. 

Henry  Tubbs,  Kirkwood. 
Lafayette  Funk,  Shirley. 
Jason  Eogers,  Decatur. 

M.  B.  Thompson,  Urbana. 
Henry  VanSellar,  Paris. 

W.  B . Galbreatli ,*  Charleston. 
E.  N.  Rinehart,  Effingham. 
John  M.  Darnell,  Bushville. 
Maurice  Kelly,  t Liberty. 
James  W.  Johnson,  Pittsfield. 
Frank  M.  Bridges  * Carrollton 

*Died.  tResigned.  t Vice  Brid* 


Robert  H.  Davis,  t Carrollton.. 
David  Gore , Carlinville. 

L.  F.  Hamilton,  Springfield. 
Elizur  Southworth,  Litchfield. 
D . B . Gillliam,  Upper  Alton. 
Wm.  S.  Forman,  Nashville. 
Thomas  E.  Merritt,  Salem. 
Eobley  D.  Adams,  Fairfield. 
W.  II.  McNary , Martinsville*. 
Richard  L . Organ,  Carmi. 
Henry  Setter,  Lebanon. 

John  J.  Higgins,  DuQuoin. 
Wm.  S.  Morris,  Golconda. 
Geo.  W.  Hill , Murphysboro. 
Daniel  Hogan,  Mound  City. 

es,  deceased. 


House  of  Eepresentatives. 


Kobert  B.  Kennedy,  Chicago. 
Francis  W.  Parker,  Chicago. 
James  McHale,  Chicago. 

Wm.  H.  Harper,  Chicago. 

H.  A.  Parker,  Normal  Park. 
Ernst  Hummel,  Hyde  Park. 
Abner  Taylor,  Chicago. 

J ohn  W.  E . Thomas,  Chicago. 
Thomas  J.  McNally,  Chicago. 
Thos.  C.  MacMillan,  Chicago. 
Matthew  Murphy,  Chicago. 
James  F.  Quinn,  Chicago. 
Wm.  S.  Powell,  Chicago. 
Joseph  Mahoney,  Chicago. 
Wm.  A.  Dorman,  Chicago. 
Henry  S.  Boutell,  Chicago. 
Eugene  A.  Sittig,  Chicago. 

S.  F.  Sullivan,  Chicago. 

John  Humphrey,  Orland. 
Geo.  G.  Struckman,  Elgin. 
Clayton  E.  Crafts,  Austin. 
Charles  E.  Fuller,  Belvidere. 
James  Pollock,  Millburn. 
Elijah  M.  Haines,  Waukegan. 
Frederick  S.  Baird,  Chicago. 
Chas.  E.  Scharlau,  Chicago. 


Dennis  Considine,  Chicago. 

A.  F.  Brown,  Stillman  Valley .- 
David  Hunter,  Eockford. 

E.  M.  Winslow,  Winnebago. 
Adam  C.  Oldenburg,  Chicago*. 
John  O'Shea,  Chicago. 

J.  J.  Schlesinger,  Chicago. 

D.  A.  Sheffield,  Apple  Eiver*. 
Simon  Greenleaf,  Savanna. 

E.  L . Cronkrite,  Freeport. 

P.  A.  Sundelius,  Chicago. 

B.  Brachtendorf,  Chicago. 

T . F.  Mulheran,  Chicago. 
Luther  L.  Hiatt,  Wheaton. 
John  Stewart,  Campton. 
Thomas  O'Donnell,  Aurora. 
Henry  H.  Stassen,  Monee. 
James  C.  Morgan,  Joliet. 
George  Bez,  Wilmington. 

M.  F.  Campbell,  Kankakee. 

J.  L.  Hamilton,  Wellington. 
Free  P.  Morris,  Watseka. 

H.  C.  Whittemore,  Sycamore^ 
Wm.  M.  Hanna,  Lisbon. 
Andreiv  Welch , Yorkville. 
Albert  G.  Goodspeed,  Odell. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


489) 


Charles  Bogardus,  Paxton. 
Michael  Cleary , Odell. 
Charles  H.  Ingalls,  Sublette. 
Robert  E.  Logan,*  Morrison. 

D.  S.  Spafford,!  Morrison. 
Caleb  C.  Johnson , Sterling. 
Julius  Watercott , Henry. 
Samuel  Patrick , Washburn. 
Ernest  F.  Unland,  Pekin. 

H.  C.  Cleveland,  Rock  Island. 
T.  Nowers,  Jr.,  Atkinson. 

J . H.  Paddelford , Cleveland. 
Orrin  P.  Cooley,  Oneida. 

Wm.  J.  Orendorff,  Canton. 
Samuel  P.  Marshall , Ipava. 
Samuel  C . Wiley , Earlville. 

C.  L . Hoffman , Farm  Ridge. 
Frank  P.  Snyder,  Mendota. 
A.  W.  Graham,  Biggsville. 

C.  R.  Gittings,  Terre  Haute. 
Alfred  N.  Cherry , Tioga. 
Albert  W.  Boyden,  Sheffield. 
James  H.  Miller,  Toulon. 

V.  Raley , Granville. 

Mark  M.  Bassett,  Peoria. 
John  Downs,  Peoria. 

Wm.  McLean,  Chillicothe. 

C.  M.  Rodgers,  Monmouth. 
W.H.  McCord,  Blandinsville. 
Wm.  H.  Weir,  Colchester. 
Samuel  B.  Kinsey,  McLean. 
Ivory  H.  Pike,  Bloomington. 
S.  H.  West,  Arrowsmith. 

C.  S.  Lawrence,  Elkhart. 

R.  Temyleman,  Mt.  Pulaski. 
James  M.  Graham,  Niantic. 
Wm.  F.  Calhoun,  Clinton. 
Virgil  S.  Ruby,  Bement. 

Wm.  B.  Webber,  Urbana. 

E.  E.  Boudinot,  Danville. 

C.  A.  Allen,  Hoopeston. 

E.  R.  E.  Kimbrough , Danville 

S.  M.  Long,  Newman. 

Henry  Sheplor,  Greenup. 


J . P.  McGee,  Brushy  Fork. 
Thomas  N.  Henry,  Windsor. 
John  H.  Baker,  Sullivan. 

W.  C.  Headen,  Shelbyville. 
Perry  Logsdon,  Rushville. 

J.  H.  Shaw*  Beardstown. 

W.  H.  Weaver,!  Petersburg. 

G.  W.  Langford,  Havana. 
Fred , P.  Taylor,  Quincy. 
Samuel  Mileham,  Camp  Point. 
Wm.  H.  Collins,  Quincy. 

W.  H.  Brackenridge,  Vers’lles 
J.  W.  Moore,  Mound  Station. 
Peter  C.  Barry,  Hardin. 

H.  C.  Massey,  Jerseyville. 
Byron  McEvers,  Glasgow. 

T.  S.  Chapman,  Jerseyville. 

E.  L.  McDonald,  Jacksonville 

F.  R.  McAliney,  Staunton. 
George  J.  Castle,  Carlinville. 
Ben  F.  Caldwell,  Chatham. 
Charles  A Keyes,  Springfield. 
Charles  Kerr,  Pawnee. 

Robert  A.  Gray,  Blue  Mound. 
George  M.  Stevens,  Nokomis. 
H.  H.  Hood,  Litchfield. 

W.  R.  Prickett,  Edwardsville^ 
Wm.  W.  Pearce,  Alhambra. 
Jones  Tontz,  Grant  Fork. 

M.  A.  Morgan,  Okawville. 
Milton  M.  Sharp , Greenville. 
Charles  C.  Moore,  Carlyle, 

G.  H.  Varnell,  Mt.  Vernon. 
Geo.  H.  Dieckmann,  Vandalia. 
Henry  C.  Goodnow,  Salem. 
William  T.  Prunty,  Olney. 
Alfred  Brown,  Albion. 
Edward  McClung,  Fairfield. 
J.  M.  Higlismith,  Robinson. 
Isaac  M.  Shup,  Newton. 
David  Trexler,  Newton. 

J.  R.  Campbell , McLeansboro" 
J.  M.  Sharp,  Mount  CarmeL 
W.  T.  Buchanan,  Law’en’viile 


♦Died.  t Vice  Shaw,  deceased.  XVice  Logan,  deceased,. 


490 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


James  M.  Dill , Belleville.  W.  V.  Choisser,  Harrisburg. 

F.  Heim , East  St.  Louis.  Dar'id  T.  Linegar * Cairo. 

J.  B.  Messick,  East  St.  Louis.  Philip  V.  N.  Davis , Anna. 
Thomas  James,  Chester.  W.  S.  Rogers,  Murphysboro. 
Peter  Bickelhaupt , Waterloo.  Janies  M.  Fowler,  Marion. 
Henry  Clay,  Tamaroa.  William  C.  Allen,  Vienna. 

John  Yost,  Elba.  Quincy  E.  Browning,  Benton. 

Simon  S.  Barger,  Ecldyville. 

In  the  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly,  new  members 
largely  predominated.  Through  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Hunt, 
by  reason  of  his  election  to  the  office  of  Attorney-General,  and 
the  death  of  Mr.  Bridges,  there  were  27  senators  elected  to 
this  General  Assembly,  25  in  even  districts,  and  two  in  the 
odd,  3 of  whom  had  not  before  been  members  of  any  legisla- 
tive body.  In  the  House,  out  of  the  155  Representatives,  2 of 
whom  were  elected  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  death,  there 
were  109  who  had  never  before  served  in  a legislative  as- 
sembly. In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Whiting  had  been  longest  con- 
nected with  the  legislation  of  the  State,  having  first  been 
elected  a Representative  in  the  Twenty-sixth  General 
Assembly,  then  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1889-70,  and  Senator  in  the  Twenty-seventh,  serving  con- 
tinuously since  that  time.  In  the  House,  Mr.  Haines  had 
seen  the  most  service  as  a legislator,  having  been  elected  to 
the  Twenty-first,  Twenty-second,  and  Twenty-third  General 
Assemblies,  and  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1869-70 ; was  Representative  in  the  Twenty-seventh,  Twenty- 
ninth,  and  Thirty-third  General  Assemblies.  In  the  Twenty- 
ninth  he  was  both  temporary  Speaker  and  Speaker,  as  he 
was  in  the  Thirty-fourth.  His  long  experience  and  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  parliamentary  law,  gave  him  great 
power  over  the  deliberations  of  the  House,  and  though  often 
ruling  to  the  displeasure  of  both  Republicans  and  Democrats, 
he  never  failed  to  assure  them  that  “no  rights  would  be  lost.” 


* Died. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


491 


The  Senate  convened  at  12  o’clock  m.  Wednesday,  January 
7th,  1885,  and  organized  promptly  by  the  election  of  William 
J.  Campbell,  Eepublican,  President  pro  tempore , over  Henry 
Seiter,  Democrat,  by  a vote  of  26  to  25.  And  Lorenzo  F. 
Watson,  Secretary,  over  Wiley  Jones,  by  a similar  vote. 

The  House  met  at  the  same  hour,  H.  D.  Dement,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  calling  it  to  order,  saying  that  the  hour  fixed  by 
the  Constitution  for  the  convening  of  the  Legislature  had 
arrived.  He  introduced  Rev.  A.  H.  Ball,  who  offered  a 
prayer.  J.  H.  Paddock  acted  as  Clerk.  On  the  call  of  the 
roll  all  the  members  answered  to  their  names  except  Messrs. 
Bickelhaupt,  Brachtendorf,  Murphy  and  O’Shea.  Mr. 
Dement  said  the  next  thing  in  order  would  be  nominations 
for  temporary  Speaker.  Mr.  Chapman  named  J.  B.  Messick. 
Mr.  Baker  named  Elijah  M.  Haines.  The  roll  was  called, 
but  the  Democrats  refrained  from  voting.  There  were  76 
votes  cast,  of  which  Mr.  Messick  had  received  75.  Mr.  Mes- 
sick voted  for  Luther  L.  Hiatt.  Mr.  Dement  remarked 
that  the  roll  showed  less  than  a quorum  voting,  and  ordered 
another  roll-call.  Again  the  Democrats  refrained  from  vot- 
ing. The  result  of  the  roll-call  was  the  same  as  before. 
Mr.  Kimbrough  said  he  would  ask,  on  behalf  of  the  Demo- 
cratic side  of  the  House,  that  there  be  a call  of  the  roll  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  who  were  present.  Mr.  Haines 
said  that  the  House  was  now  under  no  rules  of  parliament- 
ary law ; that  all  not  voting  were  absent ; if  they  vote,  they 
are  present  and  should  be  recorded.  Mr.  Fuller  said  : “Mr. 
Speaker,  I am  not  sure  that  it  is  necessary  that  a quorum 
should  be  present  in  order  to  effect  a temporary  organiza- 
tion of  the  House.  I think  not;  but  if  I am  mistaken  in 
this,  it  appears  from  the  presence  of  the  two  gentlemen, 
(Kimbrough  and  Haines,)  who  have  just  addressed  the  chair, 
that  an  actual  quorum  is  present.  They  have  addressed  the 
chair,  and  by  their  remarks  have  demonstrated  that  there 


492 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


is  a quorum  of  members  present, — seventy-five  members 
having  voted,  and  two  others  being  present.  The  chair  now 
knows  that  there  are  seventy-seven  members,  or  a quorum,, 
present,  and  a temporary  Speaker  has  been  elected.” 

The  chair  ruled  the  point  not  well  taken,  and  ordered  the 
roll-call  to  be  proceeded  with,  when  152  members  responded 
to  their  names.  On  the  third  ballot  Mr.  Haines  received 
76  votes,  and  Mr.  Messick  75.  Mr.  Haines  voted  for  Mr. 
Varnell,  and  Mr.  Messick  for  Mr.  Hiatt.  Mr.  Dement 
declared  Mr.  Haines  duly  elected  temporary  Speaker.  Mr. 
Fuller  raised  a point  of  order  in  effect  that  Mr.  Haines  had 
not  been  elected,  as  it  required  a majority  of  all  the  mem- 
bers present  to  elect.  Mr.  Haines  wanted  to  know  if  the 
chair  had  announced  the  vote.  Mr.  Dement  answered  in 
the  affirmative.  Mr.  Haines  said,  “then  the  thing  is  closed.’' 
“No,”  said  Mr.  Dement,  “I  made  a mistake.”  Mr.  Haines 
said:  “Mr.  Chairman,  I had  decided  to  help  the  chair  out 
by  refusing  to  accept  the  position.  The  Senate  has  decided 
this  question  long  ago.  This  is  not  for  the  Speaker;  it  is 
only  a temporary  thing.  I will  say  right  here  to  my  col- 
league from  Boone,  that  under  no  condition  would  I accept 
this  place,  and  I am  not  obliged  to  anybody  for  offering  it 
to  me.”  Mr.  Dement  repeated  that  he  was  in  error  in  an- 
nouncing the  result.  Mr.  Haines  then  wanted  to  know  if 
the  chair  repudiated  the  rules  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Dement 
intimated  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  traditions  of  the 
Senate.  Mr.  Haines  insisted  that  it  was  a question  of 
history,  and  that  the  ruling  of  the  chair  was  unprecedented. 
Mr.  Dement  maintained  his  point,  when  the  House  ad- 
journed until  Thursday  at  11:30  a.  m. 

When  the  House  met  on  Thursday,  every  member  was 
present,  and  on  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Haines  was  elected  tem- 
porary Speaker  by  a vote  of  77  to  74  for  Mr.  Messick,  Mr. 
Sittig  voting  for  Mr.  Haines.  Mr.  Messick  voted  for  Mr. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  493 

Hiatt.  Mr.  Haines  did  not  vote.  Mr.  Haines  accepted  the 
trust,  and  the  further  temporary  organization  was  proceeded 
with.  Robert  A.  D.  Wilbanks,  Democrat,  was  elected  Clerk, 
over  J.  K.  Magie,  Republican,  by  a vote  of  77  to  76.  Sub- 
sequently, Mr.  Haines  held  that  he  had  been  elected  Speaker; 
that  the  Constitution  recognized  no  such  officer  as  tem- 
porary Speaker,  and  he  successfully  resisted,  for  fourteen 
days,  the  election  of  E.  L.  Cronkrite,  the  Democratic  caucus 
nominee,  when,  tiring  of  the  conflict,  and  failing  to  assert 
his  authority  as  Speaker,  he  resigned.  This  was  late  in  the 
evening.  No  sooner  had  he  vacated  the  chair,  than  there 
was  a grand  rush  from  both  sides  of  the  House  for  the 
rostrum.  Mr.  Pike,  Republican,  was  the  first  to  ascend  the 
platform,  and  in  a loud  tone  called  the  House  to  order.  He 
had  hardly  gotten  the  words  out  of  his  mouth,  before  Messrs. 
McAliney,  McHale  and  McNally,  from  the  Democratic  side, 
had  violently  thrown  him  from  the  stand,  and  Mr.  Baker, 
Democrat,  snatched  the  gavel  from  him  and  handed  it  to 
Mr.  Cronkrite.  The  scene  was  one  of  great  excitement. 
In  the  midst  of  the  tumult,  Mr.  Fuller  put  a motion  that 
Mr.  Linegar  be  made  temporary  Speaker,  but  Mr.  Cronk- 
rite, guarded  by  the  Democrats,  held  the  chair.  The 
Democrats  put  a motion  to  a viva  voce  vote,  declaring  Mr. 
Cronkrite  permanent  Speaker,  and  announced  it  carried. 
Mr.  Fuller  mounted  a desk  and  moved  that  Mr.  Cronkrite 
be  designated  as  the  temporary  presiding  officer  of  the  House 
until  a permanent  organization  was  effected,  which  question 
was  put  by  Mr.  Fuller  to  a vote  and  unanimously  agreed  to 
by  the  House,  thereby  settling  the  dispute  as  to  the  tem- 
porary organization,  in  opposition  to  the  claim  of  Mr., 
Haines  that  a permanent  organization  had  been  effected, 
when,  on  a motion  of  Mr.  Fuller,  the  House  adjourned 
until  10  o’clock  a.  m.,  January  21.* 


♦See  House  Journal,  page  45. 


494 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Mr.  Cronkrite  continued  to  occupy  the  chair  until  the 
28th  of  January,  when  Mr.  Haines  was  elected  Speaker  as 
the  caucus  nominee  over  Charles  E.  Fuller,  the  Republican 
caucus  nominee,  by  the  vote  of  Mr.  Fuller,  he  having  pre- 
viously expressed  his  willingness  to  vote  for  his  opponent 
whenever  he  should  have  secured  the  united  support  of  his 
own  party,  and  Messrs.  O’Donnell  and  Linegar  having  finally 
yielded  to  party  pressure  and  cast  their  votes  for  Mr.  Haines, 
giving  him  76  votes,  or  enough  with  his  own  to  have  elected 
him ; and  Mr.  Haines  having  stated  that  he  would  not  vote 
for  himself,  Mr.  Fuller  arose  and  said : “Mr.  Speaker,  there 
appearing  now  to  be  a united  majority  upon  the  other  side 
of  this  house,  I,  for  one,  am  willing  to  concede  that,  being 
united,  they  are  entitled  to  the  organization  of  this  house, 
and  to  the  election  of  a Speaker,  and  in  order  that  there 
may  be  the  best  of  feeling  between  the  two  parties  of  this 
house  in  starting  out  upon  what  we  all  hope  will  be  a 
peaceable,  prosperous  and  successful  session  of  this  Legis- 
lature, I take  pleasure,  at  this  time,  in  changing  my  vote, 
which  I cheerfully  cast  for  my  distinguished  colleague  from 
Lake,  the  honorable  E.  M.  Haines.,,  This  ended  the  long 
and  bitter  contest  over  the  Speakership.  On  taking  the 
gavel,  Mr.  Haines  said,  in  a trembling  voice  and  with  tears 
in  his  eyes:  “Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
I have  again  to  thank  you  for  this  renewed  evidence  of  your 
confidence  and  esteem.  Perhaps  there  has  never  been,  in 
the  history  of  this  State,  any  person  so  highly  honored  in 
his  election  to  this  place.”  Mr.  Wilbanks  was  subsequently 
elected  Clerk,  when  the  business  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  began.  Until  the  organization  of  >tfte  General 
Assembly  there  could  be  no  canvass  of  the  vote  for  State  offi- 
cers, nor  could  the  messages  of  the  retiring  Governor,  and 
incoming  Governor  be  received  by  the  respective  houses. 
Governor  Hamilton’s  message  was  read  in  both  houses  on 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


495 


the  30th.  The  vote  for  State  officers  was  canvassed  on  the 
same  day,  and  Governor  Oglesby  was  sworn  into  office  with- 
out ceremony,  and  after  the  reading  of  his  inaugural  address, 
Lieutenant-Governor  J.  C.  Smith,  H.  D.  Dement,  Secretary 
of  State,  C.  P.  Swigert,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Jacob 
Gross,  Treasurer,  and  George  Hunt,  Attorney-General,  re- 
ceived the  oath  of  office,  and  the  wheels  of  government 
again  moved  on  in  the  ordinary  way. 

One  of  the  important  duties  to  be  discharged  by  this  body 
was  the  election  of  a United  States  Senator  to  succeed  John 
A.  Logan.  Ordinarily  the  two  houses  would  have  met  Tues- 
day, January  20th,  to  ballot  for  Senator,  but  a statute  of  the 
United  States  requiring  the  respective  houses  to  meet  on  the 
second  Tuesday  after  the  organization,  for  {he  purpose  of 
electing  a United  States  Senator,  prolonged  the  time  until 
the  10th  of  February,  but  at  that  time  there  was  no  formal 
vote,  and  the  Joint  Assembly  did  not  meet  until  the  13th  of 
February,  but  no  vote  was  had  on  that  occasion  and  no 
business  transacted,  except  the  formal  nomination  of  candi- 
dates. Hilon  A.  Parker  presented  the  name  of  John  A. 
Logan,  and  D.  T.  Linegar  nominated  W.  E.  Morrison.  The 
rolls  of  the  Senate  and  House  were  called,  and  two  hundred 
members  answered  to  their  names.  The  Speaker  then  di- 
rected that  as  the  roll  was  called,  each  member  should  rise 
to  his  feet  and  declare  the  name  of  his  choice  for  the  Sen- 
atorship,  but  the  rolls  were  called  through  without  a single 
vote  being  cast.  The  Speaker,  holding  in  his  hand  a slip  of 
paper  showing  that  no  votes  had  been  cast,  promptly  an- 
nounced: “The  rolls  have  been  called,  and  no  person  has 
been  voted  for  for  Senator.  No  one  has  been  elected,  and 
there  is  no  election. ” The  contest  for  Senator  was  the  most 
prolonged  and  portentous  in  the  history  of  all  the  States, 
extending  from  the  13fch  of  February,  until  the  19th  day  of 
May.  In  a subsequent  chapter  we  give  the  details  of  the 
contest. 


.496  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

The  Speaker,  in  making  up  the  committees,  made  Mr. 
Sittig,  Eepublican,  who  had  voted  for  him  for  temporary 
( Speaker  and  Speaker,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Claims. 

Mr.  Duncan’s  Resolution  of  Censure. 

While  the  House  was  wrangling  over  the  election  of  a 
Speaker,  the  Senate  was  engaged,  for  a time,  in  a very  bit- 
ter controversy  over  a series  of  resolutions  introduced  by 
Mr.  Duncan,  condemnatory  of  the  action  of  Governor  Ham- 
ilton in  disregarding  the  face  of  the  election  returns  from 
the  Sixth  Senatorial  District,  and  issuing  the  certificate  of 
election  to  Henry  W.  Leman  instead  of  Rudolph  Brand. 
He  insisted  that  the  action  of  the  Governor  was  a plain  viola- 
tion of  law ; no  matter  what  might  have  been  the  justifica- 
tion, or  how  broad  the  cause,  it  was  a dangerous  precedent 
to  establish,  and  the  record  of  the  Senate  should  bear  a pro- 
test against  it.  The  resolutions  of  Mr.  Duncan  were  signed 
by  all  the  Democratic  Senators,  except  Messrs.  Organ  and 
Streeter.  Mr.  Morris  followed  Mr.  Duncan  in  a speech  of 
much  warmth,  claiming  that  the  protest  had  no  business 
before  the  Senate,  since  it  related  to  the  action  of  a coordi- 
nate branch  of  the  government,  and  not  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Bell  replied  with  much  feeling  that  the 
action  of  Governor  Hamilton  was  unconstitutional,  and 
merited  censure  at  the  hands  of  the  Senate.  Mr.  Merritt 
expressed  a similar  view. 

Mr.  Clough  said,  there  seemed  to  be  no  dispute  from  the 
other  side  as  to  the  fact  that  fraud  had  been  committed,  and 
therefore  he  moved  that  the  words  “if  any”Lafter  the  word 
“fraud,”  and  the  words  “if  any  were  committed,”  in  another 
portion  of  the  protest  be  stricken  out.  To  this  motion  Mr. 
Merritt  made  the  point  of  order  that  the  protest,  being  a 
right  of  the  minority,  could  not  be  amended  by  the  majority. 
The  President  ruled  that  the  resolutions  were  not  in  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


497 


form  of  a protest,  and  therefore  were  subject  to  amendment, 
when  Mr.  Duncan  presented  an  amendment,  making  the 
document  read  “we  protest”  instead  of  “be  it  resolved.” 

Mr.  Mason  attacked  the  protest  in  a vigorous  speech  of 
:an  hour,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said:  “If  John  M. 
Hamilton  had  taken  the  Constitution  and  torn  it  into 
shreds,  and  had  broken  every  law  of  record  in  order  to  pre- 
sent the  perpetration  of  this,  the  most  damnable  fraud  in 
the  history  of  this  State,  the  people  would  thank  him  for 
having  the  courage  to  violate  one  law  in  order  to  keep  a 
higher  one.” 

Mr.  Southworth  denounced  Governor  Hamilton  as  having 
been  a partisan  of  the  most  bitter  type,  who  held  the  inter- 
ests of  his  political  party  as  more  sacred  than  the  mandates 
of  the  Constitution  of  his  State.  No  Governor,  said  he, 
had  a right,  in  a contested  election  case,  to  go  quietly  to 
Chicago,  and  on  evidence  of  ex  parte  testimony  there  heard 
by  him,  return  to  the  Capital  and  decide  the  case  in  the 
face  and  in  contradiction  of  the  official  returns  of  the  dis- 
trict. 

Mr.  Johnson  regretted  that  the  Republican  side  should  re- 
gard the  question  as  a political  one.  He  hoped  that  they 
could  come  before  the  Senate,  and  discuss  a plain,  legal 
question  without  the  Republicans  in  any  way  construing  it 
as  political.  Referring  to  the  language  of  Mr.  Mason,  he 
greatly  deplored  that  this  gentleman  should  have  so  far  for- 
gotten himself  as  to  indffige  in  such  violent  language. 
This,  said  he,  should  be  discussed  as  a legal  question,  and 
yet  no  man  on  the  other  side  had  sought  in  any  way  to 
justify  the  action  of  Governor  Hamilton  as  being  right  in 
the  eyes  of  the  law.  Addressing  himself  to  Governor  Ham- 
ilton, who  occupied  a seat  on  the  Republican  side,  Mr. 
Johnson  said : “We  are  here  protesting,  because  the  rights 

,of  this  Senate  have  been  invaded;  because  a coordinate 
—32 


498 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


branch  of  the  State  Government  had  dared  to  cross  the 
threshold  of  this  Senate,  and  usurp  its  rights.  We  protest 
in  the  name  of  the  Democratic  party,  in  the  name  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  name  of  the  future.”  Mr.  Clough  now 
demanded  a vote  on  his  amendment.  The  yeas  and  nays 
were  demanded,  but  the  Democrats  refused  to  vote,  and  no 
quorum  was  declared  present.  Mr.  Duncan  again  obtained 
the  floor  and  spoke  at  length,  criticising  the  action  of  Gov- 
ernor Hamilton  severely,  and  said  it  was  nofc  calculated  to 
win  for  him  respectability  in  the  legal  profession.  A man 
who  would  illegally  traduce  the  constitution  he  had  sworn 
to  protect,  was  a lamentable  spectacle  in  the  eyes  of  his  fel- 
lows. 

Mr.  Morris  arose  and  defended  the  course  of  Governor 
Hamilton  in  burning  language,  saying  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  Governor  to  ascertain,  when  a dispute  existed,  as  to 
who  was  really  elected.  Mr.  Johnson  wanted  to  be  shown 
the  law  for  that.  Mr.  Morris  replied  that  it  was  written  in 
the  eternal  law  of  truth  and  right.  Mr.  Johnson  repeated 
the  question,  when  Mr.  Morris  said:  “I  understand  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  the  Governor,  under  the  law,  when  the  returns 
have  been  presented  to  him,  to  issue  the  certificate  to  the 
party  who  is  entitled  to  it  by  the  returns.  I take  the  posi- 
tion that  it  was  his  duty,  as  Governor,  to  ascertain  which 
were  the  genuine  returns.  I say,  that  we  need  not  go  to 
the  statutes  to  find  what  is  right.  It  is  written  in  the  eter- 
nal law  of  right  and  truth.  When  it  is  found  that  certain 
returns  are  forgeries,  he  should  not  give  effect  to  the  attempt 
to  advance  any  political  party.” 

Mr.  Whiting  introduced  a substitute,  which  recited  the  fact 
that  the  grand  jury  of  Cook  county  held,  “that  out  of  171 
precincts  into  which  the  city  of  Chicago  was  divided,  there 
were  but  7 in  which  there  were  not  violations  of  the  election 
laws,  and  that  the  evidence  indicates  that  fraud  was  at- 
tempted or  committed  at  every  step  as  the  election  pro- 
gressed ; fraud  at  the  registration,  fraud  at  the  reception 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


499 


and  counting  of  the  ballots,  and  fraud  at  the  final  canvass 
of  the  returns.”  Mr.  Whiting  made  a brief  but  vigorous 
speech  in  support  of  his  substitute,  charging  that  the  at- 
tempt to  count  in  Rudolph  Brand  as  the  Senator  from  the 
Sixth  District,  was  an  offense  against  the  laws  of  the  State, 
for  which  its  perpetrators  could  atone  only  by  serving  a 
term  in  the  penitentiary,  and  that  if  Governor  Hamilton 
should  live  a hundred  years,  he  could  never  do  a braver  act- 
in  the  cause  of  good  government  than  he  did  in  declining  to 
issue  the  certificate  of  election  to  the  fraudulent  claimant 
for  Senator  in  the  Sixth  District. 

Mr.  Merritt  objected  to  the  substitute  being  received, 
making  the  point  of  order  that  it  was  not  germane.  The 
Republicans,  said  he,  had  no  right  to  present  that  as  a sub- 
stitute to  be  placed  over  the  signatures  of  the  Democrats. 
Mr.  Mason  replied  that  there  was  no  desire  to  make  the 
substitute  appear  over  the  names  of  the  Democrats,  but 
merely  to  have  it  substituted  in  place  of  the  whole  protest. 
The  President  overruled  Mr.  Merritt’s  point  of  order.  Mr. 
Bell  offered  an  amendment  to  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Whit- 
ing. Mr.  Clough  insisted  that  an  amendment  to  a substi- 
tute was  not  in  order,  and  was  sustained  by  the  Chair.  Mr- 
White  spoke  violently  in  support  of  the  substitute,  charging 
the  Democrats  with  having  been  willing  to  legalize  a fraud 
previous  to  Governor  Hamilton’s  decision.  Mr.  Rinehart 
spoke  passionately,  and  said  the  question  was  not  whether 
a fraud  had  been  committed  in  the  Sixth  District,  but 
whether  the  Governor  had  the  right  to  act  as  he  did  upon 
the  face  of  the  returns ; whether  or  not  a fraud  had  been 
committed,  he  held  that  the  Governor  had  no  excuse  for  hi& 
action. 

Mr.  Streeter  said  he  was  neither  in  favor  of  the  substitute; 
nor  of  the  original  resolutions ; both,  he  thought,  were  en- 
tirely out  of  order.  The  course  of  Governor  Hamilton  he 


50© 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


heartily  endorsed,  and  said  that,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, he  would  have  done  the  same  thing.  Whatever 
might  be  the  letter  of  the  constitution,  the  Governor  was 
justified  in  throttling  what  the  State  at  large  recognized  as 
an  infamous  fraud.  Mr.  Streeter  moved  that  the  substitute 
be  referred  to  the  committee  on  elections.  The  motion  pre- 
vailed, and  Mr.  Clough  withdrew  his  amendment,  striking 
out  the  words  “if  any,”  making  the  protest  declare  the  fraud 
a fact.  A vote  was  then  taken  on  the  original  protest,  and 
it  was  defeated  by  a vote  of  24  to  21,  Mr.  Streeter  voting 
in  the  negative,  and  here  the  contest  rested. 

Lieutenant-Governor  Smith  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
his  duties  as  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate,  January  £0th, 
and  although  elected  twice  to  the  office  of  State  Treasurer,  yet 
he  was  without  any  legislative  experience,  but  he  was  not  long 
in  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  parliamentary  law,  which  en- 
abled him  to  preside  with  ease  to  himself  and  satisfaction 
to  the  Senators. 

Contest  for  United  States  Senator. 

The  contest  before  the  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly 
to  choose  a successor  to  John  A.  Logan,  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  was  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of 
this  country.  When  the  Joint  Assembly  convened,  it  was 
politically  a tie.  The  Republicans  ruled  the  Senate  by  a 
majority  of  one,  and  the  Democrats  the  House  by  a like 
number ; hence  there  was  a dead-lock,  so  far  as  the  election 
of  a United  States  Senator  was  concerned.  William  R. 
Morrison  had  received  the  caucus  nomination  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  though  not  without  a spirited  contest.  The 
friends  of  Carter  II.  Harrison  believed  that  he  had  won  the 
honor  in  leading  a forlorn  hope  in  the  canvass  for  Governor, 
and  a few  of  these  vowed  a determination  never  to  vote 
for  Mr.  Morrison.  Then  there  were  a few  others  in  either 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


501 


house  who  were  bitterly  opposed  to  his  election  upon  prin- 
ciple or  from  personal  motives ; prominently  among  these 
were  E.  M.  Haines,  of  the  House,  and  A.  J.  Streeter,  of  the 
Senate. 

Mr.  Haines  had  been,  in  times  past,  a Republican,  but 
was  elected  to  the  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  as  an 
independent,  and  so  conducted  himself  in  that  body,  but  in 
the  election  at  which  he  was  chosen  a member  of  the  Thirty- 
fourth  General  Assembly,  he  posed  as  a Democrat,  and 
was  so  accepted  by  that  side  of  the  house,  and  the  man- 
agers sought  to  confirm  his  association  with  them  by  mak- 
ing him  the  presiding  officer,  but  this  was  done  without  any 
pledges  from  Mr.  Haines  on  the  senatorial  question. 

Mr.  Streeter  was  originally  a Democrat,  but  severed  his 
connection  with  that  party  when  the  Greenback  party  was 
organized.  He  was  the  Greenback  candidate  for  Congress 
in  the  Tenth  District  in  1878,  and  in  1880  he  headed  that 
ticket  for  Governor,  and  as  the  leader  of  his  party  won  no 
little  distinction,  as  he  was  recognized  as  an  able  and  honest 
man.  He  had  been  elected  to  a seat  in  the  Senate  in  a 
Republican  district,  through  the  combined  vote  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic and  Greenback  parties.  But  while  he  was  under 
obligations  to  the  Democratic  party,  in  some  measure,  for 
his  election,  yet  he  felt  that  he  could  not  betray  his  prin- 
ciples by  voting  for  Mr.  Morrison,  whose  record  in  Congress 
was  contrary  to  his  views.  He  was  willing  to  vote  for  a 
Democrat  like  John  C.  Black,  or  A.  E.  Stevenson,  but  he 
would  not  stultify  himself  by  aiding  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Morrison.  The  opposition  of  these  two  men  alone,  rendered 
the  election  of  Mr.  Morrison  out  of  the  question. 

On  the  Republican  side  there  was  a little  stubborn  opposi- 
tion to  the  election  of  John  A.  Logan.  He  had  received 
the  nomination  at  the  hands  of  the  caucus  of  his  party 
without  opposition,  yet  there  were  a few  who  would  have 


502 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLNOIS. 


preferred  the  selection  of  some  other  person  as  the  candi- 
date, but  that  opposition  was  not  long  in  giving  way,  for 
on  the  first  test  ballot,  Logan  received  the  vote  of  every 
Republican  present.  The  whole  number  of  members  in 
attendance  was  202,  of  which  John  A.  Logan  received  101 
votes,  William  R.  Morrison  94,  E.  M.  Haines  4,  John  Smith 
1,  Jas.  H.  Ward  1,  and  Francis  Lawler  1.  Total  202.  Mr. 
Streeter  voted  for  John  Smith.  On  this  ballot  Mr.  Haines 
voted  for  Mr.  Morrison.  Good  parliamentarians  maintain 
that  Logan  was  really  elected  on  this  ballot,  for  the  reason 
that  the  vote  of  Mr.  Streeter  was  in  reality  for  no  particular 
person,  and  that  it  should  have  been  counted  as  a blank ; 
this  would  have  given  Logan  a majority  of  one  over  all  the 
votes  cast,  but  no  such  claim  was  made  by  Logan  or  his 
friends,  and  the  contest  went  on  from  day  to  day,  and  from 
week  to  week,  and  month  to  month,  without  the  hope  of  a 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  issue. 

So  long  as  the  Joint  Assembly  remained  a tie,  there  were 
but  two  ways  of  breaking  the  dead-lock ; one  was  by  party 
betrayal,  and  the  other  by  voting  through  mistake.  At  any 
time,  when  either  party  had  all  the  members  present  and 
voting,  if  only  one  member  of  the  other  side  had  voted,  no 
matter  for  whom,  so  that  a majority  of  all  the  members 
elected  was  shown  as  voting,  the  contest  would  have  been 
ended  ; but  no  army  was  ever  better  drilled  in  military  tac- 
tics, than  were  the  members  of  the  respective  parties  in  the 
maneuvers  of  this  struggle ; but  the  great  wonder,  after  all, 
is,  that  where  there  were  so  many  men-,  unskilled  in  the  art 
of  political  diplomacy,  some  one  did  not  make  a mistake 
and  “elect  the  wrong  man.” 

On  the  19th  of  February,  every  member  of  the  respective 
houses  was  present;  John  A.  Logan  received  100  votes, 
William  R.  Morrrison  94,  E.  M.  Haines  4,  A.  E.  Stevenson 
1,  Andrew  Shuman  1,  E.  B.  Washburne  1,  James  H.  Ward 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


503 


1,  Francis  Lawler  1,  J.  R.  Hoxie  1.  Total  204.  Necessary 
to  a choice,  108.  Morgan  of  Will  and  Schlesinger  voted 
for  Haines,  Brachtendorf  and  Mulheran  for  Ward,  O’Shea 
for  Hoxie,  MacMillan  for  Shuman,  and  Sittig  for  Washburne. 
There  were  three  ballots  taken  on  this  occasion.  In  the  last 
Logan  received  101  votes ; Morrison  98,  Haines  2,  Ward  2, 
Washburne  1.  Total  204.  Sittig  voted  for  Washburne, 
Morgan  of  Will  and  Schlesinger  for  Haines,  Brachtendorf 
and  Mulheran  for  Ward.  On  the  26th  of  February,  Rep- 
resentative Logan  died.  From  this  time  until  the  12th  day 
of  March  there  was  no  trial  of  political  strength.  On  this 
day  202  members  were  present.  Logan  received  99  votes, 
Morrison  99,  W ashburne  1,  Blake  1,  Ward  1,  Black  1.  Sittig 
voted  for  Washburne,  MacMillan  for  Blake,  Mulheran  for 
Ward. 

Senator  Bridges  died  on  the  20th  of  March,  and 
there  ensued  another  lull  in  the  contest.  Hi3  successor 
had  not  been  elected  before  Representative  Shaw 
died.  This  added  to  the  confusion  of  the  struggle,  and  the 
Joint  Assembly  met  from  day  to  day  only  to  go  through  the 
mere  form  of  casting  a ballot.  By  this  time  the  Democrats 
began  to  tire  of  their  candidate,  and  they  cast  their  votes  at 
random.  To  illustrate — on  May  9th,  William  R.  Morrison 
received  12  votes,  William  R.  Prickett  8,  John  H.  Baker  1. 
In  the  meantime  the  Logan  forces  remained  the  same  as 
they  were  in  the  opening  of  the  contest.  Those  who  had 
voted  for  him  contended  that  if  they  could  not  elect  him 
they  could  not  elect  anybody,  and  that  they  would  stand  or 
fall  by  his  side,  while  those  who  had  not  supported  him 
continuously  proclaimed  their  willingness  to  vote  for  him 
whenever  their  votes  would  elect.  But  in  choosing  a suc- 
cessor to  Representative  Shaw,  the  people  had  elected  a Re- 
publican in  the  person  of  William  H.  Weaver,  which  gave 
the  Republicans  control  of  both  houses,  and  on  the  14tli  of 


504 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


May,  the  day  prior  to  the  seating  of  Mr.  Weaver,  the  Demo- 
crats, hoping  to  snatch  victory  out  of  defeat,  rallied  every 
man  on  their  side  of  the  house,  and  by  a previous  under- 
standing they  concentrated  their  entire  vote  upon  William 
E.  Morrison,  which  occurred  on  the  third  ballot,  and  then 
withdrew  his  name.  During  the  fourth  roll-call,  however, 
he  received  51  votes,  Lambert  Tree  2,  John  C.  Black  2,  A. 
E.  Stevenson  1,  John  M.  Palmer  1,  Carter  H.  Harrison  14, 
E.  W.  Townshend  5,  Wm.  J.  Allen  7,  William  Brown  10,  N* 
E.  Worthington  1,  J.  P.  Altgeldt  2,  William  M.  Springer  1, 
W.  C.  Goudy  1,  H.  F.  Donavan  1,  Whn.  M.  Tilden  1.  Total 
100.  Mr.  Haines  did  not  vote.  On  the  6th  ballot  Lambert 
Tree  received  89  votes,  scattering  7.  The  Eepublicans  re- 
frained from  voting,  although  there  were  present  99  mem- 
bers, but  nevertheless,  they  were  anxious  spectators,  and 
watched  every  movement  of  their  wily  adversary.  At  8 : 22 
p.  m.,  the  Joint  Assembly  took  a recess  until  7 :30  p.  m* 
Onre-assembling  at  that  hour  the  balloting  was  resumed,  with 
Mr.  Crafts  as  acting  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Eepresenta- 
tives.  The  roll-call  showed  105  members  present.  On  the 
1st  ballot  Lambert  Tree  received  91  votes ; scattering  9* 
On  the  2nd  ballot,  Lambert  Tree  received  101  votes,  John 
- A.  Logan  1,  Total  102.  Mr.  Euger  voted  for  Logan.  When 
all  the  Democrats  had  voted,  Mr.  Crafts  continued  to  have 
the  Plouse  roll  called  for  absentees.  While  this  was  proceed- 
ing for  the  fourth  time,  Mr.  Fuller  arose  and  vigorously  pro- 
tested against  it  as  being  unprecedented,  and  asked  Mr.  Crafts 
how  many  times  he  proposed  to  call  the  absentees.  Mr.  Crafts 
replied,  “as  long  as  any  one  desires  to  vote,”  when  he 
directed  that  the  call  proceed,  but  before  it  was  con- 
cluded, Mr.  Haines,  who  had  been  occupying  the  Speaker’s 
room,  came  in  and  took  the  chair,  amidst  great  applause 
on  the  Eepublican  side.  When  order  was  restored,  Mr* 
Fuller  arose  and  said,  amidst  sensation  and  great  excite- 
ment : 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


505 


“Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  a rule  in  the  House,  and  I suppose 
it  applies  to  the  Joint  Assembly  as  well,  that  only  members 
are  allowed  on  the  floor.  While  I was  over  on  the  other 
side  of  the  house  a while  ago,  I saw  a man  who  is  not  en- 
titled to  the  privileges  of  the  floor,  but  who  was  lobbying 
among  the  members.  He  is  a lobbyist,  and  I overheard 
him  making  a proposition,  and  trying  to  unduly  influence 
the  vote  of  a member  of  this  Joint  Assembly.  ” 

Here  followed  cries  of  “Who  is  he!”  Name  him!”  “Put 
him  out !”  The  excitement  was  intense  on  the  Republican 
side,  and  members  sprang  from  their  seats  as  quick  as 
thought  to  the  side  of  Mr.  Fuller,  who  pointed  to  ex-Treas- 
urer  John  Dunphy,  of  Chicago,  who  was  standing  at  the 
extreme  right,  as  the  man  whom  he  meant,  as  having  at- 
tempted to  corrupt  members.  Dunphy,  with  a face  as  red 
as  a comet,  stood  for  a moment  staring  Mr.  Fuller  in 
the  face,  and  then  disappeared.  Mr.  Merritt  tried  to  ridi- 
cule the  idea  that  undue  means  were  being  attempted  to  be 
used  to  influence  Republican  votes,  to  which  Mr.  Whiting 
said : “It  is  as  plain  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  that  there 
is  an  effort  being  made  to  buy  a seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.”  It  was  some  time  before  order  was  restored,  when 
the  Speaker  announced  the  result  of  the  ballot,  amidst  al- 
most painful  silence,  the  Democrats  hoping  that  Tree  would 
be  declared  elected,  and  the  Republicans  fearing  such  a re- 
sult. But  the  suspense  was  broken  when  the  Speaker  said : 
“Tree  101,  Logan  1.  Total  102.  No  quorum  voting,  and 
there  is  no  election  of  United  States  Senator.” 

The  third  and  last  roll-call  began  quietly,  and  progressed 
throughout  without  any  undue  excitement.  No  one  voted 
but  the  Democrats.  Tree  received  100,  and  Morrison  1. 
Here  the  Republicans  made  an  effort  to  secure  an  adjourn- 
ment, but  the  Democrats  forced  a recess  until  8 : 30  a.  m. 
This  ended  the  most  critical  moment  of  the  long  contest. 
Just  one  more  vote  from  the  Republican  side  would  have 


506 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


secured  the  election  of  Lambert  Tree.  So  confident  were 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Tree  that  that  vote  would  be  cast,  a tele- 
gram was  sent  that  night  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  announcing 
his  election,  and  it  was  published  in  the  city  papers  the 
next  morning. 

When  the  Joint  Assembly  convened  at  8:30  a.  m.,  May 
15th,  the  roll-call  showed  198  members  present.  The  object 
in  prolonging  the  session  of  the  Joint  Assembly  was  to  pre- 
vent the  admission  of  Mr.  Weaver  to  his  seat,  and  if  pos- 
sible, to  elect,  if  not  Lambert  Tree,  some  other  Democrat 
to  the  United  States  Senate ; but  the  Republicans  were  not 
to  be  outgeneraled  in  broad  daylight,  and  they  determined 
to  end  the  session  of  the  Joint  Assembly  at  all  hazards,  and. 
compel  the  seating  of  Mr.  Weaver.  Before  the  proceedings 
of  the  Joint  Assembly  began,  Mr.  Weaver’s  credentials  were 
presented  to  the  Speaker,  who  remarked  that  he  would 
'‘accept  service.”  The  roll-call  was  then  proceeded  with. 
When  the  name  of  Mr.  Ruger,  who  was  not  in  the  hall,  was 
reached,  Mr.  Merritt  answered  for  him.  Republican  Sena- 
tors interposed  an  emphatic  protest,  when  the  President  of 
the  Senate  directed  that  the  roll  be  called  again,  which  be- 
ing done,  the  answer  was  not  repeated.  When  the  last 
name  on  the  House  roll-call  had  been  reached,  Mr.  Fuller 
obtained  the  floor  and  said : “Mr.  Speaker,  I desire  to  have 
the  name  of  Mr.  Weaver  called.  He  is  a member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  duly  elected.  He  has  taken  the 
oath  of  office,  and  has  presented  his  credentials  to  the 
Speaker  of  this  body.  He  wants  to  be  recorded.”  “Every- 
thing in  its  order,”  said  the  Speaker,  “according  to  the 
apostle.”  “I  insist,”  said  Mr.  Fuller,  “that  the  calling  of  Mr. 
Weaver’s  name  is  in  order.”  “The  chair,”  said  the  Speaker, 
“takes  notice.  No  rights  will  be  lost.  Let  us  see  where  we 
are  before  we  take  in  any  strangers.”  Here  Mr.  Weaver  took 
a place  at  the  side  of  Mr.  Fuller.  The  Speaker  insisted 
upon  announcing  the  result  of  the  roll-call,  but  Mr.  Weaver 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


507 


proceeded  to  say,  amidst  great  excitement:  “Mr.  Speaker, 
I come  here  as  a duly  elected  member  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives. I have  the  Governor’s  certificate,  and  have 
taken  the  oath  of  office  in  this  chamber.  I have  presented 
my  credentials  to  the  Speaker,  and  I ask  that  he  direct  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  to  call  my  name.”  Mr.  Weaver  had, 
at  the  suggestion  of  some  of  General  Logan’s  legal  friends, 
taken  the  oath  of  office  the  evening  before  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  as  prescribed  tjy  the  Constitu- 
tion. It  was  administered  by  Judge  William  L.  Gross. 
During  the  delivery  of  Mr.  Weaver’s  remarks,  there  was 
great  excitement  on  the  Democratic  side,  but  when  he  had 
concluded,  Mr.  Mason  got  the  floor  and  forced  attention. 
“The  prolongation  of  the  Joint  Assembly  last  night  by  tak- 
ing a recess,”  he  said,  “was  no  more  nor  less  than  an 
attempt  to  disfranchise  the  voters  of  the  34th  district.” 
He  demanded  that  no  business  be  transacted  until  Mr. 
Weaver  answered  the  roll-call.  The  recess  in  the  afternoon 
was  for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  a chance  to  influence 
men  by  corrupt  means  to  desert  their  party.  When  the  sun 
was  in  the  sky  they  could  not  do  it,  but  had  to  wait  for  the 
cover  of  darkness.  Now  they  would  try  to  prolong  the 
joint  session  again  till  night,  when  they  would  again  renew 
their  nefarious  work.  He  ended  his  speech  by  moving  that 
Mr.  Weaver  be  recognized. 

The  Speaker  said  he  had  examined  the  credentials,  and 
they  were  correct,  but  the  admission  of  Mr.  Weaver  must  be 
in  some  formal  way.  Mr.  Fuller  here  remarked  that  he  had 
no  objection  to  having  Mr.  Weaver  sworn  in  a second  time. 

The  hour  of  10  o’clock  having  arrived,  which  being  the 
regular  hour  for  the  meeting  of  the  House  under  the  rules, 
Mr.  Fuller  raised  the  point  of  order  that  the  Joint  Assembly 
could  not  be  in  session ; he  suggested  that  the  Senate  retire 
to  its  own  chamber,  and  demanded  that  the  Speaker  call  the 
House  to  order.  Both  the  House  and  Senate  had,  the  day 


508 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS* 


before,  adjourned  until  10  o’clock  the  next  morning,  and  he- 
held  that  there  could  be  no  legal  Joint  Assembly  until  each 
house  had  met  in  pursuance  of  such  adjournment.  He  cited 
the  case  of  Senator  Harlan,  in  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress. 
Harlan  went  to  the  United  States  Senate  with  proper  cre- 
dentials from  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Iowa.  The  State  Senate 
had  adjourned  from  Friday  till  Monday.  The  Joint  Assem- 
bly met  Saturday,  and  it  was  on  this  vote  that  Harlan  was 
declared  elected.  His  seat  was  contested,  and  it  was  shown 
that  the  State  Senate  had  adjourned  from  Friday  till  Mon- 
day, but  that  in  an  alleged  Joint  Assembly  held  on  Satur- 
day, Harlan  had  received  the  majority  of  the  votes.  The 
United  States  Senate  ousted  him  on  the  ground  that  there 
could  have  been  no  Joint  Assembly  in  session,  and,  conse- 
quently, no  election. 

The  Speaker  thought  that  this  was  probably  done  before 
the  present  law  of  Congress  was  enacted ; that  whatever  was 
done  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  would  probably  be  reviewed 
by  the  United  States  Senate ; but  he  thought  the  only  thing 
in  order  was  k ballot  for  Senator. 

Mr.  Mason  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Senate 
adjourned  the  night  before,  to  meet  at  10  o’clock  the  next  day. 
That  hour  having  arrived,  he  thought  the  President  of  that 
body  should  call  it  together  in  its  own  chamber. 

Whereupon  the  President  said : “ On  retiring  from  the 
Joint  Assembly  last  night,  the  Senate  adjourned  till  10 
o’clock  this  morning.  It  is  now  the  duty  of  the  Senate  to 
proceed  to  the  Senate  chamber  and  resume  its  business.” 

The  Republican  Senators  then  left  the  hall  in  a body,  be- 
ing followed  by  two  or  three  Democratic  Senators.  When 
order  was  restored,  Mr.  Fuller  again  called  the  attention  of 
the  House  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Weaver  was  present,  and  just 
before  noon,  tried  to  get  in  a motion  that  his  name  be  placed 
on  the  roll,  and  that  the  Clerk  be  directed  to  call  it. 


POLITICS  AS TD  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


509 


The  Speaker  refused  to  put  the  motion.  “Then,”  said 
Mr.  Fuller,  standing  on  his  desk,  and  in  a loud  voice,  “if  the 
Speaker  refuses  to  put  the  motion,  I will  do  it.  Those  in 
favor  say  aye.”  There  was  a loud  response  of  ayes  from  the 
Republican  side,  but  when  he  put  the  negative  side  of  the 
question,  there  was  no  response  from  the  Democratic  side, 
and  Mr.  Fuller  declared  the  motion  carried  unanimously. 
Here  the  Democrats  became  bewildered.  They  did  not  know 
what  to  expect  next.  There  was  great  excitement  all  over 
the  house,  but  more  especially  among  the  Republicans. 
Just  then  the  tall  form  of  Mr.  Messick  was  seen  advancing 
down  the  aisle,  and  when  within  a few  feet  of  the  Speaker, 
shaking  his  fist  at  him,  he  declared,  in  a tone  that  was  dis- 
tinctly heard  all  over  the  hall,  “not  another  vote  shall  be 
taken  for  Senator  until  Mr.  Weaver  is  recognized  and  ac- 
corded his  rights  ; mark  that.”  The  sentiment  expressed  by 
Mr.  Messick  was  fully  echoed  by  all  the  Republican  mem- 
bers, and  no  vote  was  taken  until  Mr.  Weaver  was  seated. 
It  was  now  12  o’clock,  and  the  Senate  had  returned.  While 
the  roll-call  was  being  proceeded  with,  some  of  the  more 
conservative  Democrats  advised  the  abandonment  of  the  at- 
tempt to  keep  Mr.  Weaver  longer  out  of  his  seat,  and  after 
some  consultation  between  the  managing  committees  of  the 
respective  parties,  Mr.  Duncan,  speaking  for  the  Democrats, 
stated  that  an  agreement  had  been  made  by  which  there  was 
to  be  a practical  suspension  of  balloting  until  Tuesday,  the 
19th  of  May,  which  was  assented  to  by  Mr.  White  on  the 
part  of  the  Republicans.  The  roll  of  the  Joint  Assembly 
was  then  called,  but  no  one  voted,  and  it  adjourned.  The 
Speaker  then  called  the  House  to  order,  when  Mr.  Crafts 
called  up  the  credentials  of  Mr.  Weaver,  and  he  was  duly 
installed  as  a member  of  the  House.  Good  feeling  was  again 
restored.  The  Joint  Assembly  only  formally  met  on  Satur- 
day and  Monday,  the  16th  and  18th  of  May.  On  the  16th, 
there  were  but  17  votes  cast,  as  follows : Lambert  Tree  11, 


510 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Wm.  R.  Prickett2,  John  A.  Logan  2,  S.  Corning  Judd  1, 
Henry  Seiter  1.  A fewer  number  were  cast  on  the  18th, 
but  each  side  was  all  the  while  busily  engaged  in  getting 
ready  for  Tuesday,  which  all  believed  would  end  the  contest 
one  way  or  the  other. 

When  the  Joint  Assembly  met  at  high  noon,  May  19, 
every  member  was  in  his  seat,  ready  for  the  last  grand 
struggle  which  was  to  end  the  great  contest  for  the  Senator- 
ship.  General  Logan  was  present,  wratching  every  move- 
ment with  the  same  intensity  that  characterized  him  in 
leading  a charge  on  the  battle  field.  Colonel  Morrison  sat 
unconcerned  in  the  midst  of  the  Democrats,  while  Judge 
Tree  was  seen  moving  carelessly  about  the  outskirts  on  the 
Democratic  side.  The  galleries  and  all  the  available  space 
in  the  hall  were  literally  packed  with  men  and  women  of  all 
political  shades,  eager  to  hear  and  see  all  that  occurred  in 
the  final  test  of  strength  between  the  two  great  parties. 
When  the  roll-call  had  been  concluded,  the  Speaker  re- 
marked that  it  might  be  important  to  know  what  the  rules 
of  the  Joint  Assembly  were  understood  to  be,  and  in  order 
that  there  might  be  no  mistake,  he  would  state  them.  On 
the  vote  for  Senator,  he  said,  there  would  be  but  one  roll- 
call  of  absentees,  but  a member  not  having  voted  on  either 
the  regular  call  or  the  call  for  absentees,  would  have  the 
right  to  vote  at  any  time  prior  to  announcing  the  result  of 
the  ballot.  The  right  to  change  one’s  vote  would  be  ob- 
served in  the  same  way. 

The  President  of  the  Senate  then  directed  the  Secretary 
of  that  body  to  proceed  with  the  roll-call  of  Senators.  Mr. 
Adams  being  the  first,  responded  distinctly,  “John  A. 
Logan.”  So  did  Mr.  Ainsworth.  When  Mr.  Bell’s  name 
was  reached  there  was  no  response,  which  was  taken  by 
the  Democrats  as  a hint  not  to  vote.  The  roll-call  pro- 
ceeded without  interruption,  every  Republican  voting  for 
John  A.  Logan.  When  the  House  roll-call  was  proceeded 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


511 


with,  the  Democrats  refrained  from  voting,  but  one  by  one 
the  Republicans  voted  for  John  A.  Logan,  until  the  name  of 
Mr.  MacMillan  was  reached,  but  the  Clerk  did  not  give  him 
time  to  respond  before  proceeding  to  call  another  name,  but 
Mr.  MacMillan  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant  and  declared 
himself  distinctly  for  John  A.  Logan.  Here  was  a sup- 
pressed cheer  on  the  Republican  side,  which  General  Logan 
silenced  by  a mere  shake  of  the  head  and  wave  of  the  hand. 
The  incident  called  out  a pleasant  remark  from  Mr.  Mer- 
ritt, and  the  suspense  under  which  all  seemed  to  labor  was 
somewhat  relieved  by  the  Speaker’s  replying  that  “every- 
thing was  going  well,  and  no  rights  were  being  lost.”  When 
the  name  of  Mr.  Sittig  was  reached,  he  did  not  vote.  There 
was  a death-like  quiet  while  the  roll-call  proceeded  to  the 
end. 

When  the  absentees  were  called,  the  Democrats  still  re- 
fusing to  vote,  every  eye  in  the  house  was  turned  toward 
Mr.  Sittig,  who,  when  his  name  was  reached,  asked  the 
privilege  of  explaining  his  vote;  but  all  uncertainty  vanished 
when  he  had  concluded  a speech  of  fifteen  minutes  with  the 
words,  “I  vote  for  John  A.  Logan.”  This  gave  Logan  the 
necessary  103  votes.  Here  was  a picture  for  the  pencil  of  a 
Nast.  Shouts  rent  the  air,  handkerchiefs  waved,  hats  went 
up,  and  Logan  was  tossed  about  as  though  he  had  been  a 
child,  while  the  hand  of  Sittig  was  shaken  again  and  again 
by  delighted  Republicans.  The  Democrats  now  demanded 
to  be  recorded,  but  under  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Speaker 
at  the  outset,  the  absentees  could  not  again  be  called,  and 
now  the  Democrats  of  the  House  proceeded  to  vote  in 
irregular  order,  just  as  they  could  claim  the  attention  of 
the  Clerk,  all  voting,  with  only  an  occasional  exception,  for 
Lambert  Tree.  Mr.  Taylor  of  Adams  declined  to  vote  at 
all.  Then  there  was  a parley  among  the  leaders, 
when  Mr.  Baker  mounted  his  desk,  and  getting  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Speaker,  said : “I  wish  to  change  my  vote  from 


•512 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Lambert  Tree  to  Charles  B.  Farwell.,,  This  was  taken  as 
a signal  for  a stampede  from  Tree  to  Farwell,  but  this  role 
was  soon  checked  by  the  Democratic  member,  Mr.  Barry, 
who,  rising  in  his  seat,  said:  “I  change  from  Lambert 
Tree  to  John  A.  Logan. ” 

The  Republicans  greeted  this  with  loud  applause,  and  Mr. 
Barry  was  pulled  about  by  the  Democrats  in  every  direction, 
and  while  under  the  severest  pressure,  changed  his  vote  from 
Logan  to  Tree.  In  doing  so  he  said  : “ 1 want  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  my  party,  but  I want  to  see  everything  done 
fairly.  I give  notice  that  before  any  Republican  shall  take 
this  election  away  from  John  A.  Logan,  I will  vote  for 
Logan.” 

- All  the  Democrats  of  the  House  changed  from  Tree  to 
Farwell  except  Messrs.  Barry,  Dill,  Linegar  and  Prickett. 
The  absentees  of  the  Senate  then  commenced  voting,  and 
all  changed  their  votes  from  Tree  to  Farwell  except  Messrs. 
Gore,  Merritt,  Rinehart  and  McNary.  Mr.  Farwell  received 
72  votes  in  the  House,  and  21  in  the  Senate— total  93. 
Finding  that  the  followers  of  Logan  were  immovable,  the 
Democrats  then  desired  to  correct  their  record,  and  changed 
their  votes  from  Farwell,  as  follows:  Tree  96  votes,  Black 
2,  Morrison  1,  Hoxie  1,  Schofield  1.  Total,  101.  This  was 
announced  by  the  Speaker  to  be  the  last  opportunity  for 
changing,  and  then,  with  a wearied  air,  he  said : “Gentlemen, 
are  you  through?”  There  being  no  response,  he  proceeded 
to  announce  the  result  of  the  vote,  as  follows:  Logan  103, 
Tree  96,  Black  2,  Morrison  1,  Hoxie  1,  Schofield  1.  Total, 
204.  Pausing  a moment:  “ Of  which  number  John  A.  Lo- 
gan has  received  a majority.  Therefore,  I declare  him  duly 
elected  United  States  Senator.” 

Here  the  outburst  qf  applause  was  uncontrollable,  Demo- 
crats as  well  as  Republicans  rejoicing.  When  the  excitement 
had  lulled,  the  Speaker  appointed  Messrs.  Merritt,  Fuller 
and  Chapman  as  a committee  to  conduct  the  Senator-elect 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


513 


4o  the  Speaker’s  stand,  and  as  Mr.  Merritt  and  Gen.  Logan 
proceeded,  arm-in-arm,  to  the  presence  of  the  Speaker,  the 
hall  rang  loud  and  long  with  shouts  of  delight.  The  greet- 
ing between  the  Speaker  and  the  Senator-elect  was  ex- 
tremely pleasant,  and  when  General  Logan  had  returned 
thanks  for  the  great  honor  conferred  upon  him,  the  Speaker 
spoke  briefly,  saying  that  he  had  tried  to  preside  in  a way 
to  suit  both  sides,  and  expressed  the  belief  that  everybody’s 
rights  had  been  respected.  He  then  thanked  every  one  for 
the  consideration  shown  him,  when  the  Joint  Assembly 
adjourned  sine  die . 

Recurring  to  the  struggle  between  Logan  and  Morrison 
for  the  mastery,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  nothing  was 
done  by  either  of  them  that  in  the  least  alienated  their 
friendship,  which  had  existed  since  their  early  manhood. 

Although  the  Joint  Assembly  met  formally  83  times,  and 
balloted  118  times,  in  all  that  time  there  were  but  14  test 
ballots  of  party  strength ; either  members  were  absent  on 
business,  sick,  or  some  one  had  died.  Besides  the  three 
deaths,  there  was  a great  deal  of  sickness  from  time  to  time, 
and  not  infrequently  were  members  on  either  side  carried 
from  the  sick  chamber  to  vote  for  Senator ; but  this  is  no 
new  thing  in  the  politics  of  legislative  assemblies.  We  have 
an  illustrious  example  in  the  first  election  for  United  States 
Senators  in  Missouri.  When  Thomas  H.  Benton  began  his 
thirty  years’  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  his  right  to 
represent  Missouri  in  that  body  was  strongly  contested  by 
John  B.  C.  Lucas,  and  it  required  every  supporter  of  Mr. 
Benton,  to  be  present.  It  is  related  that  Daniel  Balls,  a 
member  from  Pike  county,  lay  dying.  In  this  condition  he 
was  brought  before  the  Joint. Assembly.  When  his  name 
was  called  he  whispered  “ Benton,”  and  was  then  carried 
to  his  room,  which  he  never  left  again  alive. 

—33 


514 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Work  of  the  Session. 

The  Senatorial  contest  over,  the  two  honses  went 
vigorously  to  work,  and  what  promised  to  be  an  un- 
profitable session,  proved  a profitable  one.  One  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  acts  were  passed,  making  many 
important  changes  in  the  laws  of  the  State.  Among 
these  were  seven  election  acts,  three  drainage,  and  a 
civil  rights  bill.  The  latter  provided  that  colored  peo- 
ple should  have  equal  rights  with  the  whites  in  hotels, 
restaurants,  theatres,  and  other  public  places.  An  ap- 
propriation was  made  for  the  erection  of  a Soldiers* 
and  Sailors’  Home. 

Convict  labor  was  a subject  which  claimed  the  attention 
of  both  houses  more  or  less  during  the  entire  session. 
Neither  house  seemed  willing  -to  meet  that  issue  in  its 
broadest  sense,  and  the  subject  was  finally  disposed  of 
by  the  introduction  of  a joint  resolution,  introduced 
in  the  Senate  by  Mr.  Mason,  proposing  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution,  to  be  submitted  to  a vote  of  the 
people  at  the  general  election  for  members  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1886.  The  resolution  passed  the  Sen- 
ate by  a vote  of  yeas  49,  nays  1.  The  House  concurred 
in  the  passage  of  the  resolution  by  a vote  of  yeas  119, 
nays  9. 

The  defeat  of  the  bill  requiring  the  State  to  again 
pay  the  canal  claims,  which  were  settled  in  full  years 
ago,  is  an  act  which  commands  the  respect  of  right- 
thinking  men  all  over  the  State. 

The  total  appropriation  of  this  session  for  all  pur- 
poses amounted  to  $7,774,978.54. 

Out  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  acts  passed, 
all  became  laws  by  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  ex- 
cept four,  which  were  allowed  to  become  so  without 
his  signature.  We  recall  no  similar  case  in  the  history 
<of  the  State. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  515 


The  session  was  a long  and  turbulent  one,  many 
times  looking  as  though  it  would  be  dissolved  by  rev- 
olution, yet  when  the  closing  hours  came,  good  feelings 
assumed  sway,  and  after  a few  kindly  parting  words 
by  Governor  Oglesby  to  each  house,  a sine  die  adjourn- 
ment was  taken  on  the  evening  of  the  26th  of  Juno, 
and  the  members  parted  as  they  had  met — friends. 

State  House. 

The  erection  of  the  State  House  was  authorized  by  act 
of  February  25,  1867.  The  Commissioners  appointed 
under  this  act- were,  John  W.  Smith,  John  J.  S.  Wilson, 
Philip  Wadsworth,  James  C.  Robinson,  William  T.  Van- 
deveer,  William  L.  Hambleton  and  James  H.  Beveridge. 
The  cost  of  the  structure  was  limited  to  $ 3,500,000.  The 
act  of  1867  appropriated  8450,000  to  begin  the  work, 
$ 200, 000 of  which  was  received  from  Sangamon  County, 
and  Springfield,  in  payment  for  the  old  State  House. 
The  ground  was  broken  for  the  foundation  March  11, 
1868,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  5th  of 
October,  the  same  year.  Subsequently,  the  number  of 
Commissioners  was  reduced,  by  act  of  the  Legislature, 
to  three,  and  the  Governor  appointed  Jacob  Bunn, 
James  C.  Robinson  and  James  H.  Beveridge  such  Com- 
missioners. James  C.  Robinson  resigned  in  1871,  and 
John  T.  Stuart  was  appointed  as  his  successor.  This 
constituted  the  Board  of  Commissioners  until  the  office 
was  abolished  by  act  of  May  24,  1879. 

When  the  Commissioners  were  legislated  out  of  office, 
there  had  been  expended  upon  the  house  $3, 500, 000, 
and  it  was  estimated  that  it  would  require  $531,712. 
more  to  complete  it,  which  could  not  be  appropriated, 
under  the  constitution  of  1870,  without  a vote  of  the 
people,  and  the  question  was  submitted  three  times  to 
a popular  vote  before  the  people  would  consent  to 
authorize  this  additional  expenditure,  which,  added  to 
the  original  appropriations,  makes  the  total  cost  of 


516  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

the  State  House  $4,031,712.  The  General  Assembly 
again  created  the  office  of  State  House  Commissioners, 
and  in  1885  made  a formal  appropriation  of  the 
money  to  complete  the  work.  The  Governor  appointed 
as  such  Commissioners,  John  McCreery,  George  Kirk 
and  William  Jayne. 

The  panel  picture  in  the  grand  stairway  represents' 
the  council  held  by  Col.  George  Rogers  Clark  with  the 
Indians,  at  Cahokia,  September  1st,  2d  and  3d,  1778. 
He  had  captured  Kaskaskia,  July  4th,  which  was  then 
in  possession  of  the  English,  and  having  brought  them 
into  subjection,  accomplished  the  same  result  with  the 
Indians  by  this  council. 

The  hight  of  the  building  from  basement  floor  to 
the  apex  of  the  dome  is  350  feet,  being  62%  feet  higher 
than  the  dome  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 

Death  of  Judge  Treat. 

Samuel  H.  Treat,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  died 'March 
27,  1887.  He  assumed  the  duties  of  that  office  in 
1855,  and  served  continuously  for  thirty-two  years. 
President  Cleveland  appointed  as  his  successor  Wm. 
J.  Allen,  a man  of  eminent  legal  ability,  and  of  un- 
questioned integrity.  Judge  Allen  is  a native  of  Tenn- 
essee, born  in  1829.  His  father,  Willis  Allen,  removed 
to  Southern  Illinois  in  1830,  where  Judge  Allen  re-1 
sided  until  1886,  when  he  removed  to  Springfield,  and 
associated  himself,  at  the  death  of  B.  S.  Edwards,  in 
the  practice  of  law,  with  C.  C.  Brown  & Son,  under1 
the  style  of  Allen,  Brown  & Brown.  Mr.  Allen’s  life  I 
has  been  a very  busy  one.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1849 ; in  1854,  he  was  elected  a member  of  the ! 
lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly ; he  was  appointed 
District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois, 
at  the  time  Mr.  Treat  was  appointed  Judge,  but  re- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


517 


signed  the  trust  in  I860,  when  he  was  elected  Judge 
of  what  was  then  the  Twenty-sixth  Circuit;  in  1862, 
he  was  elected  to  Congress  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
by  the  resignation  of  John  A.  Logan,  and  was  reelected 
a member  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  the  same  year ; 
he  was  a delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Conventions 
of  1862  and  1870.  It  is  related  of  Judge  Allen,  that 
his  first  important  law  business  came  from  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company,  through  the  influence  of 
John  Wentworth,  better  known  as  Long  John.  It  was 
in  the  nature  of  land  sales  for  the  company  in  that 
section  of  the  State,  and  on  which  he  realized  for  the 
company  $28,000,  in  the  currency  of  the  country, 
which  was  made  up  in  a great  measure  of  “wild-cat” 
banks.  In  those  days  this  was  considered  a very  large 
sum  of  money,  and  Mr.  Allen  was  at  a loss  to  know 
what  would  be  a just  charge  for  his  services,  but 
finally  rendered  a bill  for  $200.  The  learned  lawyer  of 
to-day  would  smile  at  such  a charge.  Judge  Allen 
took  his  seat  April  26,  1887,  and  his  discharge  of  the 
official  duties  has  been  eminently  satisfactory. 

The  father  of  Judge  Allen  was  a Representative  in 
the  Eleventh  General  Assembly;  Senator  in  the  Four- 
teenth and  Fifteenth ; Delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1848  ; Representative  in  Congress  from 
1851  to  1855;  was  Judge  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Circuit, 
and  died  while  holding  court  at  Harrisburg,  in  April, 
1859. 

Cook  County  Corruption. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  trial  and  conviction  of  Joseph 
C.  Mackin  in  connection  with  the  election  frauds  in 
Chicago,  in  1884,  and  the  trial  of  the  Anarchists,  who 
participated  in  the  great  riot  of  May,  1886.  The  first 
sought  to  destroy  the  purity  of  elections,  and  to  set 
aside  the  power  of  the  ballot  in  determining  questions 


518 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


of  difference  between  contending  political  parties.  The 
other  was  an  attempt  to  overthrow  and  defy  all  lawful 
government,  and  establish  in  its  stead,  anarchy,  with 
all  its  direful  consequences.  Next  to  this  comes  the 
crime  of  conspiracy  to  rob  the  people  of  Cook  county. 
For  a series  of  years  the  Board  of  County  Commis- 
sioners carried  on  this  conspiracy  successfully,  thereby 
enriching  themselves  and  impoverishing  the  county, 
rendering  it  impossible  to  discharge  its  financial  obli- 
gations, or  even  pay  the  annual  salaries  of  its  public 
servants.  But  at  last  the  robbery  became  too  appar- 
ent, and  an  investigation  was  instituted,  which  devel- 
oped a state  of  corruption  which  was  akin  to  the 
crimes  committed  by  the  Tweed  ring  of  New  York  City. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  enormity  of  the  conspiracy, 
we  mention  one  particular  case  only,  where  the  firm 
receiving  the  contract  for  furnishing  the  county  with 
coal  for  one  year,  paid  $11,000  in  advance  for  the 
privilege.  The  trial  took  place  before  Judge  Jamieson. 

State’s  Attorney  Julius  S.  Grinnell,  assisted  by  Gen. 
I.  N.  Stiles,  and  Assistant  State’s  Attorneys  Francis 
W.  Walker  and  Edmund  Furthmann,  appeared  for  the 
people,  and  Luther  Laflin  Mills,  George  C.  Ingham, 
Chas.  M.  Hardy,  L.  H.  Bisbee,  I).  W.  Munn,  Alexander 
Sullivan  and  W.  S.  Forrest,  appeared  for  the  defend- 
ants. There  was  what  was  termed  an  omnibus  indict- 
ment, in  which  there  were  thirteen  persons  indicted  for 
conspiracy,  namely:  Wm.  J.  McGarigle,  Edward  S. 
McDonald,  Daniel  J.  Wren,  Richard  S.  McClaughrey, 
James  J.  McCarthy,  Christian  Geils,  Richard  M.  Oliver, 
Christian  Casselman,  Commissioners,  and  Michael 
Wasserman,  Adam  Ochs,  John  E.  Yan  Pelt,  Michael 
Leyden,  ex-Commissioners,  and  Harry  A.  Varnell,  ex- 
Warden.  McGarigle  and  McDonald*  were  tried  first  and 
found  guilty,  and  their  punishment  was  fixed  at  three 
years  in  the  penitentiary.  All  the  others  were  con- 
victed of  conspiracy.  Wren,  McClaughrey , Wasserman, 
Ochs,  Yan  Pelt,  Leyden  and  Yarnell,  were  sentenced  to 
■the  penitentiary  for  two  years,  while  McCarthy,  Geils, 
Oliver  and  Casselman,  were  each  fined  $1,000. 

*Pending  the  motion  for  a new  trial,  which  was  overruled,  McGarigle 
•escaped  to  Canada.  McDonald  appealed  to  the  Appellate  Court,  in  which  the 
judgment  was  affirmed,  and  then  the  cause  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State,  which  reversed  the  judgment,  w7hen,  after  an  imprisonment  of  fifteen 
months  in  the  county  jail,  he  ivas  released  on  bail. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


519 


Constitution  of  1870. 

Perhaps  the  most  valuable  provisions  of  the  Consti- 
tution of  1870  are  those  which  relate  to  limiting  the 
contracting  of  public  indebtedness  by  counties,  cities, 
towns  and  villages;  minority  representation,  control 
of  railroads,  special  legislation,  veto  power  and  citizen- 
ship. 

Regarding  the  matter  of  public  indebtedness,  it  may 
be  said  that  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Con- 
stitution many  cities  and  counties  had  incurred  debts 
to  aid  in  building  railroads,  which  almost  involved 
them  in  bankruptcy,  and  the  restriction  came  just  in 
time  to  save  the  State  from  a repetition  of  the  experi- 
ence of  1837. 

Minority  representation  has  for  its  chief  recommenda- 
tion its  power  to  prevent  any  political  party  from 
acquiring  large  and  dangerous  majorities  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Illinois 
is  the  only  State  in  the  Union  where  minority  representa- 
tion has  been  adopted  in  the  election  of  members  of  the 
Legislature.  Joseph  Medill  was  the  author  of  it,  and 
while  there  have  been  some  objections  to  the  principle, 
yet  it  is  not  probable  that  it  will  ever  be  abrogated. 

The  clause  regarding  railroads  prevents  the  consol- 
idation of  competing  lines,  and  enables  the  Legisla- 
ture to  govern  freight  and  passenger  charges.  L.  D. 
Whiting  is  entitled  to  the  honor  of  making  the  first 
move  toward  the  incorporation  of  this  provision  in 
the  Constitution. 

The  clause  prohibiting  special  legislation  brought 
about  a radical  change  in  the  manner  of  making  laws, 
as  well  as  to  the  number  of  enactments.  There  had 
grown  up  under  the  usage  of  the  Constitution  of  1848, 
what  was  called  the  “ third  house,”  in  which  would 
appear,  from  session  to  session,  a lobby  of  able  men, 
who  prepared  and  pushed  what  were  then  termed 
private  bills,  many  of  which  were  pernicious  in  char- 
acter, and  whose  passage  was  secured  by  corrupt 
means,  an  illustration  of  which  is  given  in  another 
chapter,  relating  to  the  passage  of  the  Lake  Front 
Bill  over  the  veto  of  Gov.  Palmer.  In  referring  to 
special  legislation,  Gov.  Palmer,  in  his  biennial  mes- 
sage of  1871,  stated  that  the  number  of  bills  intro- 


520 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


duced  into  the  two  houses,  in  1869,  was  2,487,  and 
that  more  than  1,500  of  them  became  laws,  the  private 
acts  alone  being  found  in  four  ponderous  volumes, 
aggregating  3,354  pages.  He  doubted  if  there  was 
ever  so  crude  and  dangerous  legislation  inflicted  upon 
any  people. 

The  veto  power  of  the  Governor  was  increased,  by 
requiring  a vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
Legislature  to  pass  a bill  over  his  objections. 

The  section  relating  to  citizenship  was  made  to  con- 
form to  the  recent  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  respecting  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  the  negro,  the  language  of  which  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  when  we  consider  that,  in  1862,  the  people  of 
Illinois  adopted  Article  18,  of  the  Constitution  then 
submitted  for  their  adoption  or  rejection,  which  de- 
clared that  no  negro  or  mulatto  should  migrate  to 
or  settle  in  the  State,  or  have  the  right  of  suffrage, 
or  hold  office,  by  a majority  of  104,965,  the  full  force 
of  the  revolution  in  public  sentiment  upon  this  ques- 
tion may  be  the  better  understood,  and  it  shows  a 
regard  for  the  laws  of  the  National  government  that 
insures  the  unity  of  the  Nation. 

But  the  work  of  every  generation  brings  its  good 
and  evil  results.  The  Constitution  of  1848  was  well 
suited  to  the  times,  and  was  adopted  by  the  people 
under  circumstances  of  difficulty  and  embarrassment 
that  we  cannot  now  fully  understand.  The  purpose 
intended  was  accomplished,  and  the  Constitution  will 
be  remembered  as  an  example  of  courageous  integrity 
to  the  enduring  honor  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  The 
Constitution  of  1870  gave  evidence  of  broad  intelli- 
gence, but  there  is  something  more  to  be  done  to  free 
the  people  from  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon  them  by 
public  servants.  The  failure  to  limit  the  sessions  of 
the  General  Assembly  was  a grave  mistake  in  the 
framers  of  this  instrument,  as  was  the  neglect  to  in- 
hibit the  reelection  of  the  Governor  within  eight  years. 
Under  the  Constitution  of  1848,  there  were  eleven 
regular  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  the  duration  of 
which  was,  respectively,  40,  49,  52,  45,  45,  42,  43,  42, 
45,  52  and  107  days.  At  the  last,  which  was  the  last 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


521 


session  under  that  Constitution,  the  notorious  Lake 
Front  Bill  was  passed.  But  now,  if  the  Legislature 
meets  and  adjourns  under  five  months,  it  is  deemed  a 
short  session.  Besides  limiting  the  sessions  of  the 
Legislature,  there  ought  to  be  some  restriction  in  the 
appointive  power  of  the  Governor,  as  well  as  an  inhi- 
bition to  his  reelection  within  eight  years.  It  has  been 
shown  that  under  the  Constitution  of  1818,  the  Legis- 
lature was  given  almost  exclusive  power  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  public  servants,  which  was  harmful  to  the 
public  interests.  Under  the  present  Constitution,  that 
power  has  been  transferred,  in  a very  great  degree, 
to  the  Governor,  and  experience  teaches  us  that  it 
would  be  still  better  to  leave  the  selection  of  public 
servants,  who  fill  important  trusts,  to  the  people  at 
the  ballot  box. 

Revision  of  the  Laws. 

Preparatory  to  the  revision  of  the  laws,  which  was 
to  follow  the  adoption  of  a new  Constitution,  an  act 
was  passed  by  the  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly, 
approved  March  8,  1869,  providing  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  three  Commissioners,  one  from  each  grand 
division  of  the  State,  to  “ revise  and  rewrite”  the 
general  statutes  of  the  State.  Michael  Schaeffer,  of 
Salem,  was  appointed  from  the  First  Grand  Division; 
Wm.  E.  Nelson,  of  Decatur,  from  the  Second,  and 
Harvey  B.  Hurd,  of  Evanston,  from  the  Third.  The 
Commissioners  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
duties  immediately  after  their  appointment.  Subse- 
quently, Mr.  Nelson  was  elected  a member  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly,  which  left  the 
matter  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Schaeffer  and  Hurd, 
who  made  their  first  report  to  that  assembly. 

Inasmuch  as  the  new  Constitution  provided  that  no 
bill  should  contain  more  than  one  subject,  and  that  to 
be  expressed  in  the  title,  the  revisers  reported  their 
work  in  bills,  each  bill  containing  but  one  chapter. 
It  was  not  until  the  latter  part  of  the  first  session  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly  that  it  paid  much 
attention  to  the  revision,  but  shortly  before  adjourn- 
ing it  passed  a few  chapters,  and  then  adjourned  to 
the  15th  of  November,  1871,  At  the  adjourned  session 


522 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


about  one-half  of  the  revised  chapters,  which  consti- 
tute the  Revised  Statutes  of  1874,  were  taken  up  and 
passed.  As  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly 
made  no  provision  for  the  continuation  of  the  revision, 
as  Mr.  Schaeffer  thought  it  should  have  done,  he  re- 
signed, leaving  the  unfinished  wrork  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Hurd,  who  reported  the  remainder  to  the  Twenty- 
eighth  General  Assembly.  As  in  the  Twenty-seventh, 
so  in  the  Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly,  the  early 
part  of  the  first  session  there  was  but  little  done  with 
the  revision,  but  before  it  adjourned  several  chapters 
were  passed,  and  the  importance  of  the  early  comple- 
tion of  the  work  was  fully  appreciated.  Therefore,  an 
adjourned  session,  to  be  held  January  8,  1874,  was 
agreed  upon,  and  a joint  committee  was  appointed, 
to  which  the  incompleted  part  of  the  revision  was  re- 
ferred. This  committee  was  composed  of  Messrs.  Clark 
W.  Upton  and  Charles  B.  Steele  of  the  Senate,  and 
Messrs.  Milton  Hay,  Charles  Dunham  and  John  M. 
Rountree  of  the  House.  The  new  Constitution  having 
made  changes  in  the  county  government,  in  the  methods 
of  legislation  and  in  many  other  respects,  the  work  of 
revising  the  laws  was  one  of  greater  scope  and  delicacy 
than  usually  belongs  to  such  an  undertaking.  It 
necessitated  many  new  provisions,  in  some  instances 
entirely  new  chapters,  and  at  many  points  giving  the 
first  construction  to  the  novel  requirements  of  the 
Constitution. 

The  several  assemblies  were  extremely  fortunate  in 
the  selection  of  the  committees  that  passed  upon  this 
work.  The  largest  share  fell  to  the  judiciary  committee 
of  the  Senate  and  House  until  the  appointment  of  the 
joint  committee  before  referred  to,  and  of  all  of  them, 
as  well  as  the  joint  committee,  it  can  be  said  they  were 
able,  practical  lawyers,  with  an  experience  that 
enabled  them  to  perform  the  important  duty  easily 
and  well ; they  knew  what  the  law  was  as  well  as  what 
it  ought  to  be,  to  conform  to  the  past  rulings  of 
courts,  and  what  was  necessary  to  be  done  to  adapt  it 
to  the  new  Constitution.  The  joint  committee  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties  immediately  upon  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  in  May,  1873,  and 
continued  their  labors  up  to  the  10th  of  December, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


523 


following,  when  they  completed  their  report,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  adjourned  session,  January  8, 
1874,  and  on  March  30,  1874,  an  act  was  approved 
appointing  Harvey  B.  Hurd  to  compile,  annotate, 
edit  and  superintend  the  publication  of  all  the  general 
statutes  of  the  State,  in  force  on  the  first  day  of 
July,  1874,  in  a volume  to  be  entitled,  “The  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  A.  D.  1874.”  The 
work  was  well  done,  and  stands  as  a tribute  to  the 
revisers,  the  legislative  committees,  assemblies  that 
enacted  it  into  law,  and  to  the  editor. 


* * 

CHAPTER  LXIII. 

LABOR  TROUBLES  OF  1886, 


Early  in  the  spring  of  1886  there  was  a series  of  strikes 
among  the  laboring  classes  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  os- 
tensibly for  an  advance  in  wages.  The  determination  of 
the  strikers  not  to  work  themselves  or  allow  others  to,  with- 
out their  demands  were  acceded  to,  became  so  general  that 
the  military  power  of  several  of  the  States  had  to  be  called 
into  requisition.  In  our  own  State,  at  East  St.  Louis,  on  the 
line  of  the  Gould  system  of  railways,  a conflict  ensued  on 
the  9th  of  April,  between  the  strikers  and  the  police, 
in  which  seven  or  eight  lives  were  lost  and  the  police  put 
to  flight,  which  caused  the  calling  out  of  the  Second  Brigade 
of  the  Illinois  National  Guard,  General  Reece  command- 
ing. It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  bearing  of  the  brigade 
during  the  forty-six  days  it  was  on  duty  in  these  perilous 
times  was  soldierly  in  the  highest  degree,  and  that  law  and 
order  were  maintained,  and  property  and  life  preserved  with- 
out the  effusion  of  blood. 


524 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Supplemental  to  these  strikes,  there  was,  on  May  1,  a-, 
universal  demand  in  the  large  cities,  upon  the  manufactur- 
ers and  railroad  companies,  for  eight  hours  labor  with  ten 
hours  pay,  and  in  some  instances,  with  eight  hours  labor 
and  an  increase  of  twenty  per  cent,  in  pay.  On  the  refusal 
of  the  employers  to  comply  with  these  demands,  a general 
strike  ensued,  which  prostrated  business  of  all  kinds,  and, 
for  the  time  being,  brought  the  commercial  world  to  a stand- 
still. Bradstreet  estimated  the  number  of  men  out  on  a 
strike  to  have  been  250,000.  For  some  time  previous  to  the 
strike,  “boycotting,”  a foreign  importation,  had  been  re- 
sorted to  with  some  success  by  the  Trades  Unions  and 
Knights  of  Labor,  in  compelling  manufacturers  in  Chicago 
to  yield  to  their  demands.  The  Arbeiter  Zeitung , the  organ 
of  the  anarchists,  had  openly  incited  its  followers  to  disre- 
gard the  laws  of  the  land,  and  for  more  than  a year  public 
meetings  had  been  held  on  Lake  Front,  under  the  folds  of" 
the  red  flag,  and  murder  and  arson  were  defiantly  advised.. 

The  most  disastrous  consequences  of  this  strike  were  in 
Chicago.  A large  body  of  anarchists  assembled,  May  4,  at 
Haymarket  Square  as  a turbulent  mob,  and  about  10 : 30 
p.  m.,  while  the  police  wrere  endeavoring  to  disperse  them,  a 
mysterious  hand  hurled  a dynamite  bomb  into  their  midst, 
which  exploded  with  terrible  effect.  The  official  report  of 
Wheeler  Bartram,  President  of  the  Policemen’s  Benevolent 
Association,  published  May  13th,  shows  that  sixty-six  po- 
licemen were  wounded  on  that  terrible  night,  seven  of  whom 
died.  But  cowardly  and  appalling  as  this  assault  was,  the 
policemen  bravely  stood  their  ground,  killing  one  anarchist, 
wounding  seventeen,  and  finally  routing  them  at  all  points. 
The  physical  courage  exhibited  by  the  policemen  of  Chicago 
has  no  parallel  in  this  country,  unless  it  be  in  the  case  of 
the  draft  riots  in  New  York,  in  1863.  The  day  before,  the 
anarchists  had  made  an  assault  upon  the  workingmen  at 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


525 


McCormick’s  reaper  factory,  and  in  dispersing  them,  the  po- 
lice killed  two  of  their  number,  and  wounded  many 
others.  This  Haymarket  meeting  had  been  called  through 
the  medium  of  a handbill,  which  appealed  to  the  baser  pas- 
sions of  the  men,  calling  them  “to  arms!”  “to  arms!” 
under  the  false  plea  of  an  endeavor  to  support  the  cause  of 
the  laboring  man.  Being  forewarned,  the  city  authorities 
had  made  what  they  believed  to  be  ample  preparation  to 
preserve  the  peace  on  this  occasion,  but  they  had  not  antici- 
pated the  introduction  of  the  dynamite  bomb,  which  was 
unknown  in  civilized  warfare. 

But  Chicago  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  her  citizens 
determined  that  the  law-breakers  and  assassins  should  be 
put  down  at  any  cost ; and  subscriptions  of  money  to  pro- 
vide for  the  families  of  the  fallen  braves,  and  to  care  for  the 
wounded  and  dying,  were  promptly  made,  ranging  from  $1 
to  $1,000,  and  aggregating  more  than  $60,000.  The  haunts 
of  the  anarchists  were  ferreted  out,  and  their  weapons  of 
warfare,  consisting  of  guns,  pistols,  knives  and  dynamite, 
secreted  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  were  seized  and  confis- 
cated, the  publication  of  the  Arbeiter  Zeitang  was  suspended, 
and  its  editors  and  other  leaders  were  arrested  and  incar- 
cerated in  jail,  to  be  tried  for  the  crime  of  murder.  Judge 
Bogers,  in  his  charge  to  the  grand  jury  which  investigated 
the  cases,  left  nothing  unsaid  which  had  any  bearing  upon 
the  question.  Referring  to  the  “freedom  of  speech,”  he 
said : 

“We  hear  a good  deal  in  these  days  about  what  is  called 
the  freedom  of  speech.  Now,  there  is  a good  deal  of  mis- 
conception of  the  language  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and, 
I may  say,  of  that  of  all  the  States  in  the  Union,  upon  this 
question  of  the  freedom  of  speech.  I have  copied  here  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  on  which  some  men  base 
their  right  to  say  just  what  they  please;  to  assemble  and 
talk  as  they  like.  There  is  no  such  right  as  that,  no  such 


526 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


constitutional  right.  The  constitutional  rights,  as  expressed 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  are  that  Congress 
shall  make  no  law  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of 
the  press,  and  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble 
and  to  petition  the  government  for  the  redress  of  grievances. 
This  same  principle  is  carried  along  into  the  various  State 
constitutions,  and  into  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois in  its  bill  of  rights.  There  is  a provision  that  every 
person  may  freely  speak,  write,  and  publish,  also,  what  he 
wishes,  on  all  subjects,  he  being  held  responsible  for  the 
abuse  of  that  privilege.  And,  in  another  provision,  the 
people  are  given  the  right  to  assemble  in  a peaceable  man- 
ner and  consult  together  for  the  common  good,  and  to  make 
known  their  opinions  upon  any  subject  to  their  representa- 
tives, and  to  apply  for  the  redress  of  any  grievance.  This 
is  the  way  that  the  right  has  been  interpreted  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  Illinois,  and  that  interpretation  is  one  that 
courts  will  always  recognize ; namely,  that  a man  may  speak 
and  write  on  all  subjects,  but  he  is  responsible  for  the  re- 
sults that  may  flow  from  any  abuse  of  that  liberty  of  speech. 
The  right  in  regard  to  assembling  is  simply  that  the  people 
have  the  right  to  assemble  in  a peaceable  manner  to  con- 
sult for  the  common  good,  and  to  apply  for  the  redress  of 
grievances.  I refer  to  these  constitutional  rights,  because 
there  are  some  men  who  are  so  inconsistent  as  to  say  that 
there  should  be  no  laws,  and  yet  claim  a protection  for  that 
right  in  its  broadest  sense  ; claiming  for  it  an  interpretation 
satisfactory  to  their  own  minds,  to  the  effect  that  a man 
may  get  up,  and,  in  public  speech,  before  a public  crowd, 
advise  murder  and  arson,  and  the  division  and  destruction 
of  property,  and  the  right  to  injure  people  in  their  lives  who 
oppose  them.  But  that  is  a wild  interpretation  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  this  country,  that  the  courts  have  never  recog- 
nized, although  they  have  recognized  a freedom  of  speech 
greater  than  has  ever  been  allowed  in  the  old  despotisms  of 
Europe ; and  I hope  that  such  an  interpretation  of  the  right 
of  freedom  of  speech  will  never  be  recognized  in  this  country. 
Every  man  must  be  held  responsible  for  acts  directly  re- 
sulting from  his  speech.  If  I should  get  up  now  and  order 
or  advise  this  company  that  the  foreman  of  this  grand  jury 
ought  to  be  hung,  or  that  he  should  otherwise  be  punished 
for  some  assumed  offense,  I advise  the  commission  of  a 
crime  ; and  if  my  advice  is  followed,  and  some  person,  acting 
under  the  feelings  that  I have  induced,  commits  that  offense 
against  your  foreman,  he  is  guilty  of  murder  if  he  kills  him, 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


527 


and  I,  who  incited  him  to  do  it,  am  just  as  guilty  of  murder 
as  he  is.  Now,  it  is  in  the  light  of  these  interpretations 
that  you  have  to  look  at  these  assemblies.  It  is  not  your 
province  to  deal  with  anything  that  looks  directly  toward 
the  prevention  of  crime,  but  only  to  deal  with  actual 
offenses  that  have  been  committed  already.” 

The  State’s  Attorney,  Julius  S.  Grinnell,  fully  realizing 
the  enormity  of  the  crime,  bravely  and  promptly  laid  before 
the  jury  the  evidence  on  which  the  State  proposed  to  convict 
the  persons  whose  names  were  connected  with  the  Haymar- 
ket  riot,  and  the  result  was  that  ten  of  the  anarchists  were 
indicted  for  murder,  namely,  August  Spies,  Michael  Schwab, 
Samuel  Fielden,  Albert  E.  Parsons,  Adolph  Fischer,  George 
Engel,  Louis  Lingg,  William  Selinger,  Eudolph  Schnau- 
belt  and  Oscar  W.  Neebe,  and  all  but  Schnaubelt,  who 
could  not  be  found,  wTere  arrested  and  confined  in  jail. 

It  may  be  a question  in  the  minds  of  some  as  to  whether 
the  seizure  of  the  property  of  the  anarchists  and  the  arrest 
of  the  editors  of  the  Arbeiter  Zeitung , was  a legal  proceed- 
ing, but  the  doctrine  proclaimed  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in 
a speech  delivered  in  Congress  on  the  7th  of  January,  1844, 
on  a bill  to  refund  to  General  Jackson  the  fine  imposed  upon 
him  by  Judge  Hall  for  proclaiming  martial  law  in  New  Or- 
leans in  1815,  while  defending  that  city  against  the  assault 
of  the  British,  will  aptly  apply  in  this  case.  He  held  that 
whatever  was  necessary  to  be  done  in  time  of  war  to  pre- 
serve the  life  of  the  nation,  was  constitutional,  he  did  not 
care  what  it  was ; and  it  is  related  that  after  the  death  of 
General  Jackson,  a pamphlet  copy  of  this  speech  was  found 
among  his  private  papers,  with  an  endorsement  written  and 
signed  by  himself,  which  was  in  these  words : “ This  speech 
constitutes  my  defense.  I lay  it  aside  as  an  inheritance  for 
my  grandchildren.” 

This  attempt  to  set  at  defiance  the  laws  of  the  land,  re- 
minds us  of  the  time  when  the  Chartists  of  England  sought 
the  overthrow  of  the  established  government  of  that  country. 


528 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


History  tells  us  that  the  association  of  Chartists  was  formed 
as  early  as  1839,  and  that  they  claimed  a membership  of 
five  million,  but  no  open  attempt  was  made  to  seize  the 
government  until  as  late  as  1848,  when  they  were  emboldened 
by  the  revolution  in  France,  which  had  broken  out  in  Feb- 
ruary of  that  year.  It  was  then  widely  proclaimed  that  they, 
would  make  the  assault  upon  London  on  April  10,  and 
enforce  their  demand  for  a new  form  of  government  by  the 
aid  of  half  a million  armed  men.  Wellington,  whose  crown- 
ing military  glory  was  the  defeat  of  Bonaparte  at  Waterloo, 
was  then  at  the  head  of  the  army  of  Great  Britain,  and  he 
collected  all  the  available  troops  within  the  kingdom  and 
concentrated  them  in  London,  and  armed  several  thousand 
policemen.  The  result  was,  that  when  the  day  of  assault 
came,  the  Chartists,  instead  of  a half  million  armed  men, 
numbered  but  25,000,  and  in  taking  position,  had  been 
marshaled  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Thames,  thus  putting 
that  river  between  them  and  London.  When  they  had  all 
gotten  across,  Wellington  seized  the  bridges  and  made  pris- 
oners of  their  whole  army,  thus  quelling  the  revolt  without 
killing  a man  on  either  side. 

No  such  scenes  as  were  witnessed  in  Chicago  on  the  night 
of  May  4,  1886,  have  ever  before  occurred  in  this  country, 
and  have  no  parallel  save  in  Paris,  fifteen  years  ago,  when 
the  communists  of  that  metropolis  made  the  streets  run  red 
with  the  blood  of  its  best  citizens.  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  few,  if  any,  American-born  citizens  participated  in  this 
riot,  and  that  its  chief  leaders  were  men  who  had  only  been 
in  this  country  three  or  four  years,  and  one  of  them  only 
eleven  months. 

It  is  a part  of  the  history  of  this  matter  to  say  that  the 
labor  organizations  of  the  country  were  prompt  in  passing 
resolutions  denunciatory  of  the  proceedings  and  conduct  of 
the  anarchists  at  Chicago. 

The  eight  hour  movement  was  unsuccessful. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


529 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

OWEN  LOVEJOY. 


His  Trial  at  Princeton  for  Harboring  Runaway  Slaves— His  Yow,  After  the 
Death  of  His  Brother,  to  Devote  the  Residue  of  His  Life  to  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Cause— Exciting  Scene  in  Congress— His  Death. 


In  previous  chapters  we  have  spoken  in  some  detail  of 
Owen  Lovejoy,  whose  fame  as  an  anti-slavery  man  was 
world-wide.  No  man  in  the  United  States  was  more  widely 
known,  or  whose  ability  was  more  readily  acknowledged. 
As  a matter  of  principle  he  was  opposed  to  the  institution 
of  slavery,  but  when  his  brother,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  fell  a 
martyr  to  the  cause  of  freedom  at  Alton,  in  1837,  then  it 
was  that  Owen  Lovejoy  vowed  eternal  hostility  to  that  in- 
stitution, and  the  men  who  fostered  and  the  laws  which 
protected  it.  No  mob  was  ever  powerful  enough  or  audience 
too  pro-slavery,  to  silence  his  voice  in  eloquently  appealing 
for  the  down- trodden  slave.  In  and  out  of  Congress  he  was 
the  same  bold,  manly  champion  of  freedom.  His  home  at 
Princeton  was  regarded  by  the  escaping  slave  as  the  haven 
of  safety,  where  he  was  sure  of  shelter  and  protection,  with- 
out money  and  without  price,  while  on  his  perilous  journey 
to  free  Canada.  Princeton  became  famed  as  a point  on  the 
‘‘underground  railroad, ” and  the  movements  of  Lovejoy  were 
watched  by  the  slave-catchers  with  the  same  eagerness  as 
though  che  had  been  a common  highwayman,  but  he  was 
never  daunted  in  his  efforts  to  free  the  slave,  no  matter  who 
his  pursuers  were  or  where  they  came  from.  The  court  re- 
cords of  Bureau  county  tell  of  the  many  times  he  was  ar- 
raigned for  doing  what  he  believed  to  be  a service  both  to 
—34 


530 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


mankind  and  God.  The  same  manly  courage  characterized 
him  in  every  conflict  with  the  advocates  of  slavery,  whether 
it  was  in  the  private  walks  of  life,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  courts, 
or  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  We  do  not  know  that  we  can 
better  portray  the  character  of  the  man  than  to  quote  from 
an  address  delivered  by  Isaac  N.  Arnold  .before  the  Bar  As- 
sociation of  Illinois,  at  Springfield,  in  January,  1881,  which 
was  published  with  the  official  proceedings  of  the  association, 
by  Wm.  L.  Gross,  its  secretary.  It  relates  chiefly  to  the 
trial  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  at  Princeton,  in  October,  1842,  for  har- 
boring runaway  slaves.  Mr.  Arnold  said  : 

“I  have  spoken  of  Mr.  Butterfield ; the  firm  name  of  But- 
terfield & Collins,  partners,  was  in  those  early  days  always 
associated.  Mr.  Collins  was  a good  lawyer,  a man  of  perse- 
verance, pluck  and  resolution,  and  as  combative  as  an 
English  bull-dog.  He  was  an  early,  and  most  violent  and 
extreme  Abolitionist ; a contemporary  with  Dr.  Charles  V. 
Dyer,  the  Lovejoy s,  Ichabod  Codding,  Eastman,  Freer, 
Farnsworth,  and  other  pioneer  Abolitionists  in  Northern 
Illinois.  I wish  I could  reproduce  a full  report  of  the  case 
of  The  People  v.  Owen  Lovejoy . 

“At  the  May  term,  1842,  of  the  Bureau  County  Circuit 
Court,  Richard  M.  Young,  presiding,  Norman  H.  Purple, 
prosecuting  attorney  pro  tern .,  the  grand  jury  returned  a 
‘true  bill’  against  Owen  Lovejoy,  (then  lately  a preacher  of 
the  Gospel,)  for  that  ‘a  certain  negro  girl  named  Agnes, 
then  and  there  being  a fugitive  slave,  he,  the  said  Lovejoy, 
knowing  her  to  be  such,  did  harbor,  feed,  secrete,  and 
clothe,’  contrary  to  the  statute,  etc., — and  the  grand  jurors 
did  further  present  ‘ that  the  said  Lovejoy  a certain  fugitive 
slave  called  Nance , did  harbor,  feed,  and  aid,’  contrary  to 
the  statute,  etc.  At  the  October  term,  1842,  the  Hon.  John 
Dean  Caton,  a Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  presiding,  the 
case  came  up  for  trial,  on  a plea  of  not  guilty , Judge  Purple, 
and  B.  F.  Fridley,  State’s  attorney,  for  the  people,  and 
James  H.  Collins,  and  Lovejoy  in  person,  for  the  defense. 
The  trial  lasted  nearly  a week,  and  Lovejoy  and  Collins 
fought  the  case  with  a vigor  and  boldness  almost  without 
a parallel.  The  prosecution  was  urged  by  the  enemies  of 
Lovejoy  with  an  energy  and  vindictiveness  with  which  Pur- 
ple and  Fridley  could  have  had  little  sympathy.  When  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


531 


case  was  called  for  trial  a strong  pro-slavery  man,  one  of 
those  by  whom  the  indictment  had  been  procured,  said  to 
the  State’s  attorney : 

“ ‘ Fridley,  we  want  you  to  be  sure  and  convict  this 
preacher,  and  send  him  to  prison.’ 

“‘Prison!  Love  joy  to  prison!’  replied  Fridley,  ‘Your 
persecution  will  be  a damned  sight  more  likely  to  send  him 
to  Congress.’ 

“Fridley  was  right — Lovejoy  was  very  soon  after  elected 
to  the  State  Legislature,  and  then  to  Congress,  where,  as 
you  all  know,  he  was  soon  heard  from  by  the  whole  country. 
The  prosecution  was  ably  conducted,  and  Messrs.  Collins 
and  Lovejoy  not  only  availed  themselves  of  every  technical 
ground  of  defense,  but  denounced,  vehemently,  the  laws 
under  which  the  indictment  was  drawn,  as  unconstitutional 
and  void ; justifying  every  act  charged  as  criminal.  A 
full  report  of  the  trial  would  have  considerable  historic 
interest.  The  counsel  engaged  were  equal  to  the  important 
legal  and  constitutional  questions  discussed.  Judge  Pur- 
ple, for  logical  ability  and  wide  culture,  for  a clear,  concise 
style,  condensing  the  strong  points  of  his  case  into  the 
fewest  words,  had  rarely  an  equal.  Fridley,  for  quaint 
humor,  for  drollery  and  apt  illustration,  expressed  in 
familiar,  plain,  colloquial,  sometimes  vulgar  language,  but 
with  a clear,  strong  common  sense,  was  a very  effective 
prosecutor.  Collins  was  indefatigable,  dogmatic,  never  giv- 
ing up,  and  if  the  court  decided  one  point  against  him,  he 
was  ready  with  another,  and  if  that  was  overruled,  still 
others. 

“Lovejoy  always  suggested  to  me  a Boundhead  of  the 
days  of  Cromwell.  He  was  thoroughly  in  earnest,  almost 
if  not  quite  fanatical  in  his  politics.  His  courage  was  un- 
flinching, and  he  would  have  died  for  his  principles.  He 
had  a blunt,  masculine  eloquence  rarely  equaled,  and  on 
the  slavery  question,  as  a stump-speaker,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  name  his  superior.  Collins  and  Lovejoy,  after  a 
week’s  conflict,  won  their  cause.  Lovejoy  himself  made 
a masterly  argument,  and  Mr.  Collins’  closing  speech  ex- 
tended through  two  days.  They  extorted  a verdict  from 
a hostile  jury.  . . . Lovejoy  quoted  with  effect  the  lines 

of  Cowper,  now  so  familiar : 

**  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England,  if  their  lungs 
Receive*  our  air,  that  moment  they  are  free— 

They  touch  our  country  and  their  shackles  fall.’ 


532 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


“ ‘ And,’  said  he,  'if  this  is  the  glory  of  England,  is  it  not 
equally  true  of  Illinois,  her  soil  consecrated  to  freedom  by 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  her  own  constitution?’ 

“Mr  Collins,  in  his  summing  up,  read  the  great  and  elo- 
quent opinion  of  Lord  Mansfield  in  the  Somerset  case,  an 
opinion  which  Cowper  so  beautifully  paraphrased  in  his 
poem. 

“Judge  Caton’s  charge,  which  will  be  found  in  the  West- 
ern Citizen  of  October  26th,  1848,  was  very  fair.  He  laid 
down  the  law  distinctly,  that  ‘ if  a man  voluntarily  brings 
his  slave  into  a free  State,  the  slave  becomes  free.’ 

“In  February,  1859,  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  speak- 
ing of  the  acts  which  led  to  his  trial,  there  is  one  of  the 
boldest  and  most  effective  bursts  of  eloquence  from  Love- 
joy  to  be  found  in  all  the  literature  of  anti-slavery  discus- 
sion. He  had  been  taunted  and  reproached  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  and  stigmatized  as  one  who,  in  aiding  slaves 
to  escape,  had  violated  the  laws  and  constitution  of  his 
country.  He  had  been  denounced  as  a ‘ nigger-stealer,’ 
threatened  by  the  slave-holders,  and  they  attempted  to  in- 
timidate and  silence  him.  They  little  knew  the  man,  and 
his  reply  silenced  them,  and  extorted  the  admiration  of 
friend  and  foe.  He  closed  one  of  the  most  radical  and 
impassioned  anti-slavery  speeches  ever  made  in  Congress,  by 
unflinchingly  declaring  :*  ‘ I do  assist  fugitive  slaves.  Pro- 
claim it,  then,  upon  the  house-tops ; write  it  on  every  leaf 
that  trembles  in  the  forest ; make  it  blaze  from  the  sun  at 
high  noon,  and  shine  forth  in  the  milder  radiance  of  every 
star  that  bedecks  the  firmament  of  God ; let  it  echo  through 
all  the  arches  of  heaven,  and  reverberate  and  bellow  along 
all  the  deep  gorges  of  hell,  where  slave-catchers  will  be  very 
likely  to  hear  it.  Owen  Lovejoy  lives  at  Princeton,  Illinois, 
dhree-quarters  of  a mile  east  of  the  village ; and  he  aids 
every  fugitive  that  comes  to  his  door  and  asks  it.  Thou 
invisible  demon  of  slavery,  dost  thou  think  to  cross  my 
humble  threshold,  and  forbid  me  to  give  bread  to  the 
hungry  and  shelter  to  the  houseless  ? I bid  you  defiance  in 
the  name  of  God!  ’ 

“I  heard  Lovejoy  declare,  that  after  the  death  of  his 
brother,  he  went  to  the  graveyard  at  Alton,  and  kneeling 
upon  the  sod  which  covered  the  remains  of  that  brother, 
he  there,  before  God,  swore  eternal  war  and  vengeance  upon 
slavery.  He  kept  his  vow. 


♦Congressional  Globe,  February  21, 1859,  p.  199 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


533 


“He  was  a man  of  powerful  physique,  intense  feeling  and 
great  magnetism  as  a speaker,  and  he  now  went  forth  like 
Peter  the  Hermit,  with  a heart  of  fire,  and  a tongue  of 
lightning,  preaching  his  crusade  against  slavery. 

“In  the  log  school-houses,  in  the  meeting-houses  and  places 
of  worship,  and  in  the  open  air,  he  preached  and  lectured 
against  slavery  with  a vehemence  and  passionate  energy 
which  carried  the  people  with  him.  The  martyrdom  of  his 
brother  was  a sufficient  excuse  for  his  violence,  and  the 
name  of  Lovejoy,  the  martyr,  like  the  name  of  Rob  Roy  or 
Douglas  in  Scotch  history,  became  a name  to  ‘conjure  ’ with; 
and  he  scattered  broadcast  seed,  the  fruit  of  which  was 
apparent  in  the  great  anti-slavery  triumph  of  1860.  Some 
idea  of  his  dramatic  power  may  be  obtained  from  a sermon, 
preached  at  Princeton  in  January,  1842,  on  the  death  of  his 
brother.  After  describing  his  murder  by  a cruel  mob,  be- 
cause he  would  not  surrender  the  freedom  of  the  press,  he 
declared,  solemnly,  that  for  himself,  ‘ come  life  or  death, 
I will  devote  the  residue  of  my  life  to  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
The  slave-holders  and  their  sympathizers/  said  he,  ‘have 
murdered  my  brother,  and  if  another  victim  is  needed,  I am 
ready/ 

“His  aged  and  widowed  mother  was  present  in  the  church. 
Pausing  and  turning  to  her,  be  said : ‘ Mother,  you  have 

given  one  son,  your  elder,  to  liberty,  are  you  willing  to  give 
another  ? ’ And  the  heroic  mother  replied : ‘ Yes,  my  son — 

you  cannot  die  in  a better  cause  ! ’ He  lived  to  see  slavery 
die  amid  the  flames  of  war  which  itself  had  kindled. 

“When  I heard  him  speak  of  his  brother’s  martyrdom,  I 
recalled  the  words  applied  by  an  English  poet  to  the  re- 
former Wyckliffe,  illustrating  how  much  Wyckliffe’s  perse- 
cution had  aided  to  spread  his  principles.  Wyckliffe’s  body, 
you  will  remember,  was  burned,  and  his  ashes  thrown  into 
the  Avon,  and  the  poet-prophet  says  of  the  incident : 

“ 4 The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 

The  Severn  to  the  sea. 

And  Wyckliffe’s  dust  shall  spread  abroad, 

Wide  as  the  waters  be.’ 

“The  death  of  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  his  lonely  grave  on  the  bluffs  of  Alton,  were 
among  the  influences,  and  not  the  least,  which  have  caused 
that  mighty  river  and  all  its  vast  tributaries,  on  the  East 
and  on  the  West,  to  flow  ‘unvexed  to  the  sea/  No  longer 
‘vexed’  with  slavery,  the  Mississippi  flows  on  exultingly 
from  the  land  of  ice  to  the  land  of  the  sun,  and  all  the  way 


534 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


through  soil  which  the  blood  of  Lovejoy  helped  to  make 
free.  A monument  to  the  Lovejoys  on  the  summit  of  Pilot 
Knob,  or  some  other  rocky  crag  on  the  banks  of  that  river, 
should  tell  and  commemorate  their  story.” 

In  the  first  session  of  the  Thirty- sixth  Congress,  while  the 
House  was  in  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  “State  of  the 
Union,”  Mr.  Lovejoy  had  the  floor,  and  was  speaking  on  the 
slavery  question,  when  there  occurred  one  of  the  most  exciting 
scenes  ever  witnessed  in  the  American  Congress.  Though 
never  afraid  to  express  his  opinions  in  Congress,  yet  Mr. 
Lovejoy  never  knowingly  violated  a rule  of  the  House. 
Illustrative  of  the  scene,  we  give  place  to  this  extract  from 
the  Appendix  of  the  Congressional  Globe  of  1859-60,  page 
208. 

[Mr.  Lovejoy  had  advanced  into  the  area,  and  occupied 
the  space  fronting  the  Democratic  benches.] 

Mr.  Pryor,  (advancing  from  the  Democratic  side  of  the 
house  toward  the  area  where  Mr.  Lovejoy  stood.)  “The  gen- 
tleman from  Illinois,  (Mr.  Lovejoy,)  shall  not  approach  this 
side  of  the  House,  shaking  his  fist  and  talking  the  way  he 
has  talked.  It  is  bad  enough  to  be  compelled  to  sit  here 
and  hear  him  utter  his  treasonable  and  insulting  language  ; 
but  he  shall  not , sir,  come  upon  this  side  of  the  House,  shak- 
ing his  fist  in  our  faces.” 

Mr.  Farnsworth.  “It  is  not  for  the  gentleman  to  say  what 
is  treason,  and  what  is  not.” 

Mr.  Potter.  “We  listened  to  gentlemen  upon  the  other 
side  for  eight  weeks,  when  they  denounced  the  members 
upon  this  side  with  violent  and  offensive  language.  We 
listened  to  them  quietly,  and  heard  them  through.  And 
now,  sir,  this  side  shall  be  heard,  let  the  consequences  be 
what  they  may.” 

Mr.  Pryor.  “The  point  I make  is  this” — 

The  Chairman.  “The  chair  will  receive  no  motion,  and 
hear  no  gentleman,  until  members  resume  their  seats  and 
order  is  restored  in  the  hall.” 

Mr.  Cox.  “I  rise  to  a point  of  order.  I insist  that  the 
gentleman  from  Illinois  shall  speak  from  his  seat.” 

Mr.  Pryor.  “That  is  the  point  I make.  Let  the  gentle- 
man speak  from  his  seat,  and  say  all  under  the  rules  he  is 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


535 


entitled  to  say*;  but,  sir,  he  shall  not  come  upon  this  side  of 
the  house,  shaking  his  fist  in  our  faces  and  talking  in  the 
style  he  has  talked.  He  shall  not  come  here  gesticulating 
in  a menacing  and  ruffianly  manner.” 

Mr.  Potter.  “You  are  doing  the  same  thing.” 

The  Chairman.  “Gentlemen  will  resume  their  seats.” 

Mr.  Cox.  “If  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  goes  on  as  he 
has,  a guardian  will  have  to  be  appointed  for  him.” 

Mr.  Barksdale.  (Addressing  Mr.  Lovejoy.)  “You  shall 
not  come  upon  this  side  of  the  House.” 

Mr.  Adrain.  “To  avoid  all  further  difficulty,  I suggest  to 
the  gentleman  from  Illinois  to  speak  from  his  seat.  We  all 
know  him  to  be  a man  of  courage,  and  that  he  cannot  be 
intimidated.” 

Mr.  Pryor.  “Nobody  wants  to  intimidate  him.” 

Mr.  Lovejoy.  “Nobody  can  intimidate  me.” 

Mr.  Adrain.  “I  know  that.  I suggest  to  the  gentleman, 
that  he  continue  his  speech  from  his  seat.” 

[Thirty  or  forty  of  the  members  from  both  sides  of  the 
house  gathered  in  the  area  about  Mr.  Lovejoy  and  Mr. 
Pryor,  and  there  was  increased  confusion.] 

Mr.  John  Cochrane.  “I  move  that  the  committee  rise, 
as  it  is  the  only  way  we  can  get  rid  of  this  disturbance.” 

Mr.  Potter.  “I  do  not  believe  that  side  of  the  House 
can  say  where  a member  shall  speak ; and  they  shall  not 
say  it.” 

Mr.  Singleton  (of  Mississippi).  “The  gentleman  from 
Illinois  shall  not  make  that  speech  upon  this  side  of  the 
House.” 

Mr.  Burnett.  “There  is  a rule  of  this  House  which 
requires  each  man  to  speak  from  his  seat.  The  gentleman 
from  Illinois  was  not  in  his  seat  when  he  was  speaking.  He 
cannot,  and  he  shall  not,  cross  this  hall  to  this  side  in  a 
menacing  manner.  He  shall  not , let  the  consequences  be 
what  they  will.  He  must  speak  from  his  seat.” 

Mr.  Grow.  “I  move  that  the  committee  rise.” 

The  Chairman.  “Gentlemen  must  resume  their  seats.” 

Mr.  Cox.  “Let  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  take  his  seat.” 

Mr.  Washburn  (of  Illinois).  “Let  others  be  seated,  and 
let  my  colleague  proceed.” 


536 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Mr.  Potter.  “The  gentleman  from  Illinois  can  take  care 
of  himself  without  the  assistance  of  the  other  side.” 

Mr.  Kellogg  (of  Illinois) . “ I say  to  the  gentlemen,  that  my 
colleague  shall  speak  ; that  he  is  in  order,  and  will  not  com- 
mit a breach  of  the  rules  of  the  House ; if  he  does,  I will  be 
the  first  to  rebuke  him  ; but  he  shall  have  his  rights,  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  House,  and  in  no  wise  shall  they  be 
abridged  or  interfered  with.  He  shall  be  heard  upon  this 
floor,  and  at  this  time.” 

Mr.  Briggs.  “Then  let  him  go  upon  his  own  side.” 

The  Chairman.  “The  chair  calls  the  committee  to  order; 
and  if  gentlemen  do  not  come  to  order,  he  will  call  the 
Speaker  to  the  chair  and  report  the  disorder  to  the  House.” 

Mr.  Florence.  “I  move  that  the  committee  rise.  It  is 
impossible  to  quell  the  disturbance  without  doing  so.” 

The  Chairman.  “The  Speaker  will  take  the  chair.” 

But  notwithstanding  these  bitter  thrusts  from  the  southern 
members  and  their  northern  allies,  when  order  was  restored, 
Mr.  Lovejoy  finished  his  speech  without  surrendering  a sin- 
gle point  to  his  adversaries,  addressing  the  body  from  the 
clerk’s  desk. 

Mr.  Lovejoy  was  a native  of  Maine,  born  January  6,  1811* 
Mainly  by  his  own  exertions  he  graduated  at  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege, and  like  his  father,  chose  the  ministry  as  the  calling 
of  his  life.  In  coming  west  in  1836,  he  made  his  home  at 
Alton,  but  after  the  death  of  his  brother  he  removed  to 
Princeton,  and  became  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
of  that  place,  and  continued  as  such  for  seventeen  years. 
His  public  life  began  in  1854,  as  a Representative  in  the 
Nineteenth  General  Assembly,  and  in  1856,  he  was  elected 
to  a seat  in  Congress,  defeating  Uri  Osgood,  Democrat,  by 
a vote  of  19,068,  to  13,007,  in  which  body  he  served  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  March  25,  1864,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y* 
Illinois  has  had  many  eminent  and  gifted  men,  but  the 
name  of  Owen  Lovejoy  will  grow  brighter  and  brighter  as 
the  cycles  of  time  shall  unfold  his  history  to  the  genera- 
tions to  come. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


537 


A beautiful  monument,  reared  by  his  affectionate  family, 
marks  his  resting  place  at  Princeton. 

Trial  of  the  Anarchists. 

On  page  527  we  leave  August  Spies,  Michael  Schwab, 
Samuel  Fielden,  Albert  R.  Parsons,  Adolph  Fischer, 
George  Engel,  Louis  Lingg,  William  Seliger  and 
Oscar  W.  Neebe  languishing  in  jail,  awaiting  trial. 

Rudolph  Schnaubelt  and  William  Seliger,  two  of 
the  indicted  Anarchists,  were  not  on  trial.  Seliger 
was  used  as  a witness  for  the  State,  and  was  not 
prosecuted.  Schnaubelt  disappeared  on  the  night  the 
bomb  was  thrown,  and  was  not  seen  or  heard  of  after- 
ward by  anybody  interested  for  the  State. 

The  enormity  of  the  crime  for  which  these  men  were 
arraigned,  and  the  distinctive  power  of  a single  bomb, 
may  be  better  understood  when  we  state  that  it  was 
shown  in  the  evidence,  given  at  the  trial,  that  the 
throwing  of  this  bomb  killed  one  police  officer  and 
wounded  sixty-five  others,  some  of  whom  were  covered 
with  wounds  from  head  to  foot.  Six  of  these  died 
between  the  6th  and  16th  of  May,  while  many  of  the 
others  were  maimed  for  life. 

The  trial  began  June  21,  and  closed  August  20,  oc- 
cupying a period  of  fifty-four  days,  exclusive  of  Sundays. 
Twelve  hundred  and  eighty-one  persons  were  sum- 
moned as  jurymen  before  a jury  was  secured  to  try 
the  cause.  The  State  had  one  hundred  and  eleven 
witnesses  called,  and  the  defense  seventy-nine.  Next 
to  the  firing  upon  Fort  Sumter,  this  riot  was  the  most 
exciting  and  far-reaching  in  its  effect  of  any  event  in 
the  history  of  this  country,  and  the  result  of  the  trial 
was  looked  forward  to  with  a degree  of  interest  the 
world  over  that  has  had  no  parallel  in  the  tide  of 
time.  The  great  dailies*  of  this  and  other  countries 
contained  each  day  full  reports  of  the  proceedings  of 


538 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  trial,  and  it  may  be  said  that  the  people  in  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  Old  World  were  made  as  familiar 
with  the  subject  as  the  people  of  Chicago  themselves. 

When  the  court  met  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of 
August,  to  hear  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  more  than  a 
thousand  people  had  assembled  at  the  entrance  of  the 
court  room  to  hear  the  doom  of  the  unfortunate  men, 
but  few  were  admitted,  save  the  prisoners,  their  im- 
mediate relatives,  the  officers  of  the  court  and  those 
engaged  in  the  trial.  When  the  hour  of  ten  o’clock 
arrived,  which  was  the  time  for  the  convening  of  the 
court,  the  command  went  forth  with  the  force  of  a 
military  order  that  “ everybody  except  the  officers  of 
the  court  should  be  seated/’  and  that  “all  must  pre- 
serve silence.”  When  complete  stillness  had  followed 
this  mandate,  the  Court  asked  the  foreman  of  the  jury, 
“have  you  agreed  upon  your  verdict?”  “We  have,” 
was  the  grave  response  of  the  foreman.  “Have  you 
written  it  out?”  was  the  further  inquiry  of  the  Court. 
“Yes,  sir,”  said  the  foreman,  when  the  verdict  was 
read  amidst  profound  silence.  It  was  in  these  words: 

“We,  the  jury,  find  the  defendants,  August  Spies, 
Michael  Schwab,  Samuel  Fielden,  Albert  R.  Parsons, 
Adolph  Fischer,  George  Engel  and  Louis  Lingg,  guilty 
of  murder  in  manner  and  form  as  charged  in  the  in- 
dictment, and  fix  the  penalty  at  death.” 

“We  find  the  defendant,  Oscar  W.  Neebe,  guilty  of 
murder  in  manner  and  form  as  charged  in  the  indict- 
ment, and  fix  the  penalty  at  imprisonment  in  the 
penitentiary  for  fifteen  years.” 

The  reading  of  the  verdict  sent  a thrill  of  horror  to 
the  faces  of  the  condemned  conspirators,  which  was 
shared  by  their  friends  and  counsel  as  well;  and  when 
Mr.  Black,  the  chief  counsel  for  the  defense,  arose  to 
ask  that  the  jury  be  polled,  he  did  so  with  a great 
effort.  After  the  clerk  had  called  the  name  of  each 
juryman,  and  all  had  answered  in  the  affirmatiye  to 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


539 


the  question,  “Was  this  and  is  this  now  your  verdict?” 
Mr.  Black  again  arose  and  made  the  usual  motion 
for  a new  trial,  which,  by  agreement,  was  argued  at 
the  October  term  of  the  court,  at  which  time  all  the 
issues  involved  in  the  motion  were  exhaustively  dis- 
cussed by  the  attorneys  of  either  side,  but  the  court 
overruled  the  motion  in  an  opinion  that  was  deemed 
able,  comprehensive,  and  incontrovertible. 

The  doomed  men  were  then  given  an  opportunity 
to  speak  in  their  own  behalf  as  to  why  sentence 
should  not  be  pronounced  upon  them,  a right  each 
and  all  availed  themselves  of.  Perhaps  no  court  in 
the  civilized  world  ever  extended  more  latitude  to 
criminals,  or  sa/fc  with  more  patience  under  the  ravings 
or  appeals  of  men  condemned  to  death,  than  did 
Judge  Gary.  They  abused  the  laws,  the  prosecution, 
the  jury  and  the  court  in  manner  and  language  that 
baffles  description.  Parsons,  who  was  the  last  to 
address  the  court,  spoke  for  more  than  six  hours. 
When  he  had  concluded,  Judge  Gary  arose  in  perfect 
calmness,  and  in  a clear  and  unimpassioned  manner 
addressed  the  condemned  men,  as  follows: 

“I  am  quite  well  aware  that  what  you  have  said, 
although  addressed  to  me,  has  been  said  to  the 
world;  yet  nothing  has  been  said  which  weakens  the 
force  of  the  proof  or  the  conclusions  therefrom  upon 
which  the  verdict  is  based.  You  are  all  men  of  intel- 
ligence, and  know  that  if  the  verdict  stands  it  must 
be  executed.  The  reasons  why  it  shall  stand  I have 
already  sufficiently  stated  in  deciding  the  motion  for 
a new  trial. 

“I  am  sorry,  beyond  any  power  of  expression,  for 
your  unhappy  condition,  and  for  the  terrible  events 
that  have  brought  it  about.  I shall  address  to  you 
neither  reproaches  nor  exhortation.  What  I shall  say 
shall  be  said  in  the  faint  hope  that  a few  words  from 
a place  where  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  lmve 
delegated  the  authority  to  declare  the  penalty  of  a 
violation  of  their  laws,  and  spoken  upon  an  occasion 


540 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


so  solemn  and  awful  as  this,  may  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  and  be  heeded  by  the  ignorant,  deluded,  and 
misguided  men  who  have  listened  to  your  counsels 
and  followed  your  advice.  I say  in  the  faint  hope, 
for  if  men  are  persuaded  that  because  of  business 
differences,  whether  about  labor  or  anything  else,  they 
may  destroy  property  and  assault  and  beat  other 
men,  and  kill  the  police  if  they,  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duty,  interfere  to  preserve  the  peace,  there  is 
little  ground  to  hope  that  they  will  listen  to  any 
warning. 

“It  is  not  the  least  among  the  hardships  of  the 
peaceable,  frugal,  and  laborious  poor  to  endure  the 
tyranny  of  mobs  who,  with  lawless  force,  dictate  to 
them,  under  penalty  of  peril  to  limb  and  life,  where, 
when,  and  upon  what  terms  they  may  earn  a liveli- 
hood for  themselves  and  their  families.  Any  govern- 
ment that  is  worthy  of  the  name  will  strenuously 
endeavor  to  secure  to  all  within  its  jurisdiction  free- 
dom to  follow  the  lawful  avocations  and  safety  for 
their  property  and  persons,  while  obeying  the  law, 
and  the  law  is  common  sense.  It  holds  each  man 
responsible  for  the  natural  and  probable  consequences 
of  his  own  acts.  It  holds  that  whoever  advises  mur- 
der is  himself  guilty  of  the  murder  that  is  committed 
pursuant  to  his  advice,  and  if  men  band  together  for 
a forcible  resistance  to  the  execution  of  the  law  and 
advise  murder  as  a means  of  making  such  resistance 
effectual,  whether  such  advice  be  to  one  man  to  mur- 
der another,  or  to  a numerous  class  to  murder  men 
of  another  class,  all  who  are  so  banded  together  are 
guilty  of  any  murder  that  is  committed  in  pursuance 
of  such  advice. 

“The  people  of  this  country  love  their  institutions, 
they  love  their  homes,  they  love  their  property. 
They  will  never  consent  that  by  violence  and  murder 
those  institutions  shall  be  broken  down,  their  homes 
despoiled,  and  their  property  destroyed.  And  the 
people  are  strong  enough  to  protect  and  sustain  their 
institutions  and  to  punish  all  offenders  against  their 
laws;  and  those  who  threaten  danger  to  civil  society, 
if  the  law  is  enforced,  are  leading  to  destruction  who- 
ever may  attempt  to  execute  such  threats. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


541 


“The  existing  order  of  society  can  be  changed  only 
by  the  will  of  the  majority.  Each  man  has  the  full 
right  to  entertain  and  advocate  by  speech  and  print 
such  opinions  as  suits  himself,  and  the  great  body  of 
the  people  will  usually  care  little  what  he  says.  But 
if  he  proposes  murder  as  a means  of  enforcing  them, 
he  puts  his  own  life  at  stake.  And  no  clamor  about 
free  speech,  or  the  evils  to  be  cured,  or  the  wrongs  to 
be  redressed,  will  shield  him  from  the  consequences  of 
his  crime.  His  liberty  is  not  a license  to  destroy. 
The  toleration  that  he  enjoys  he  must  extend  to 
others,  and  not  arrogantly  assume  that  the  great 
majority  are  wrong  and  may  rightfully  be  coerced  by 
terror  or  removed  by  dynamite. 

“It  only  remains  that  for  the  crime  you  have  com- 
mitted, and  of  which  you  have  been  convicted  after  a 
trial  unexampled  in  the  patience  with  which  an  out- 
raged people  have  extended  to  you  every  protection 
and  privilege  of  the  law  which  you  derided  and  defied, 
that  the  sentence  of  that  law  be  given  now. 

“In  form  and  detail  that  sentence  will  appear  upon 
the  records  of  the  court.  In  substance  and  effect  it  is 
that  the  defendant  Neebe  be  imprisoned  in  the  State 
Penitentiary  at  Joliet  at  hard  labor  for  the  term  of  fifteen 
years.  And  that  each  of  the  other  defendants,  between 
the  hours  of  10  o’clock  in  the  forenoon  and  2 o’clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  day  of  December  next,  in 
the  manner  provided  by  the  statute  of  this  State,  be 
hung  by  the  neck  until  he  is  dead.  Remove  the 
prisoners.” 

The  verdict  of  the  jury  and  the  sentence  of  the 
court  received  the  universal  approval  of  the  people 
and  the  press  everywhere.  But  this  was  not  the  end 
of  the  momentous  issue  involved.  The  case  was  taken 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  on  a writ  of  error, 
which  was  heard  at  the  March  term,  at  Ottawa,  in 
1887.  Leonard  Swett,  W.  P.  Black,  and  Solomon  & 
Zeisler  appeared  for  the  plaintiffs  in  error,  and 
Attorney-General  George  Hunt,  assisted  by  State’s 
Attorney  Julius  S.  Grinnell,  Francis  W.  Walker,  and 


542  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Edmund  Furthmann,  Assistant  State’s  Attorneys,  and 
George  C.  Ingham  for  the  defendants  in  error. 

The  briefs  and  arguments  in  the  case  aggregated 
1,063  pages.  Mr.  Swett*  submitted  96  pages,  and 
Messrs.  Black,  Solomon  & Zeisler  426,  and  the 
attorneys  for  the  defendants  in  error  547.  The  case 
was  duly  heard  at  this  term,  but  the  decision  was 
reserved  until  the  14th  of  September  following,  when 
the  court  was  again  in  session  at  Ottawa.  Justice 
Magruder  delivered  the  opinion,  which  was  very  elab- 
orate, filling  as  many  as  seven  or  eight  columns  of 
the  largest  daily  papers.  The  court  was  unanimous 
in  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  Criminal  Court  of 
Cook  County,  and  fixed  the  day  of  the  execution  of 
the  sentence  on  the  11th  of  November,  1887.  No 
criminal  case  of  equal  importance  has  ever  been  tried 
in  this  country,  and  there  was  never  a legal  opinion 
that  received  so  universal  approval  as  this  one. 

The  case  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  and  after  a due  hearing  the  opinion  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  was  unanimously 
affirmed. 

Subsequently,  the  condemned  men  appealed  to  the 
Governor  for  clemency,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
recommendation  of  the  court  and  the  prosecution,  the 
sentence  of  Michael  Schwab*  and  Samuel  Fielden  was 
commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life.  Spies,  Parsons, 
Fischer  and  Engel  were  executed  at  12  o’clock  M., 
November  11,  1887.  Lingg  committed  suicide  in 
prison  a few  hours  before  the  time  for  the  execution. 
Thus  ended  the  greatest  tragedy  in  American  history. 


*Died  June  6,  i&>y,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


543 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1886. 


The  State  campaign  oi  1886,  though  a contest  be- 
tween four  parties, — Republican,  Democrat,  Union 
Labor  and  Prohibition, — was  attended  with  no  great 
excitement,  and  the  people  were  rather  left  to  their 
own  choice  of  candidates  for  the  respective  offices. 
The  total  vote  of  the  State  was  574,080,  and  the 
aggregate  vote  of  the  several  candidates  is  given  below : 

State  Treasurer. 


John  R.  Tanner,  R 276,680 

Henry  F.  J.  Ricker,  D 240,864 

H.  W.  Austin,  P 19,766 

John  Budlong,  U.  L 34,821 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 

Richard  Edwards,  R... 276,710 

Franklin  T.  Oldt,  D 240,782 

U.  Z.  Gilmer,  P 19,402 

Daniel  L.  Brancher,  U.  L 34,701 


The  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
abolishing  the  contracting  of  convict  labor,  was  en- 
dorsed by  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties,  in 
State  convention,  without  any  regard  to  the  merits 
of  the  question ; but  notwithstanding  this,  the  amend- 
ment received  but  a beggarly  majority  of  19,525  in  a 
total  vote  of  574,080. 


544 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  election  of  Mr.  Edwards  again  restored  the 
political  unity  of  the  State  government,  which  has  only 
been  broken  three  times  since  the  Republican  party 
came  into  power  in  1861,  namely,  in  1862,  when 
Alexander  Starne  w7as  elected  Treasurer  ; in  1874, 
when  S.  M.  Etter  was  elected  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction;  and  again  in  1882,  when  Henry  Rabb 
was  elected  to  the  same  office.  Prior  to  1861,  the 
reign  of  the  Democratic  party  had  been  perpetual 
from  Territorial  times,  with  the  exception  of  the 
administration  of  Gov.  Bissell,  who  was  elected  in  the 
Fremont  campaign  of  1856. 

Congressmen. 

The  contest  for  Congressmen  was  unusually  exciting 
in  many  of  the  districts,  and  there  was  factious  oppo- 
sition in  the  districts  which  wTere  then  represented  by 
Democrats,  and  the  result  was  that  the  Republicans 
gained  four  members,  namely:  Wm.  E.  Mason,  in  the 
Third  district;  Philip  Sidney  Post,  in  the  Tenth;  Wm. 
H.  Gest,  in  the  Eleventh;  and  Jehu  Baker,  in  the 
Eighteenth.  The  last  named  wTas  regarded  as  almost 
a marvel  in  politics,  as  Mr.  Morrison  was  deemed 
invincible,  and  because  of  this,  some  of  his  friends 
raised  the  cry  of  fraud,  but  the  high  character  of  Mr. 
Baker  put  the  charge  to  instant  flight.  The  truth  was,  Mr. 
Morrison  had  not  been  able  to  distribute  the  patronage 
of  the  National  administration  to  the  entire  satisfac- 
tion of  his  political  followers;  and  again,  they  were 
not  all  in  accord  with  him  upon  the  question  of  the 
tariff,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  these  differ- 
ences were  the  prime  cause  of  his  defeat.  In  the 
Thirteenth  district,  Mr.  Springer’s  vote,  by  the  same 
causes  which  contributed  to  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Morrison, 
was  reduced  from  a plurality  of  3,837,  in  1884,  to! 
980.  Although  all  the  counties  were  Democratic,  yet 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


545 


Mr.  Connolly  carried  two  of  them, — Morgan  and  San- 
gamon,— and  reduced  Mr.  Springer’s  majority  in  all 
the  others. 

The  Prohibitionists  adhered  to  their  candidate  with 
unwavering  fidelity,  insisting  that  they  were  fighting 
the  battle  upon  a question  of  principle,  and  not 
with  the  hope  of  immediate  success.  This  was 
peculiarly  the  view  Judge  McCullough,  of  the  Tenth 
district,  took  of  the  question,  when  it  was  suggested 
to  him  that  he  ought  to  get  out  of  the  way,  so  as  to 
allow  Mr.  Post  a fair  race  with  Mr.  Worthington. 

The  following  is  the  aggregate  vote  for  Congressmen 
in  the  several  districts: 

First  District. 


R.  W.  Dunham,  R 12,321 

Edgar  Terhune,  D 7,258 

Harvey  Sheldon,  Jr.,  U.  L 6,358 

Geo.  C.  Christian,  Pro 337 

Second  District. 

Chas.  W.  Woodman,  R 3,976 

Frank  Lawler,  D 7,369 

Daniel  F.  Gleason,  U.  L 7,353 

J.  W.  Lee,  Pro 33 

Third  District. 

Wm.  E.  Mason,  R 13,721 

B.  W.  Goodhue,  U.  L 6,352 

J.  L.  Whitlock,  Pro 422 

J.  B.  Taylor,  D 223. 

Fourth  District. 

Geo.  E.  Adams,  R 12,147 

J.  B.  Taylor,  D 7,480 

S.  A.  Haw'kins,  U.  L 4,997 

G.  W.  Gray,  Pro 644 

Fifth  District. 

Albert  J.  Hopkins,  R 14,222 

J.  F.  Glidden,  D 6,259 

Chas.  Wheaton,  Pro 2,121 


—35 


546 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Sixth  District. 

Robt.  R.  Hitt,  R 13,106 

Jas.  McNamara,  D 8,650 

Spencer  Rising,  Pro 1,878 

Seventh  District. 

Thos.  J.  Henderson,  R 12,586 

Sherwood  Dixon,  D 7,731 

David  E.  Holmes,  Pro 1,296 

Eighth  District. 

Ralph  Plumb,  R 16,827 

Hiram  H.  Cody,  D 13,893 

Daniel  B.  Turney,  Pro 1,013 

Geo.  H.  Locey,  U.  L 545 

Ninth  District. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  R 13,753 

Matthew  H.  Peters,  G.-D 10,633 

Jas.  McGrew,  Pro T. 1,009 

Tenth  District. 

Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  D 15,157 

Philip  Sidney  Post,  R '. 15,186 

David  S.  McCullough,  Pro 869 

Eleventh  District. 

Wm.  H.  Neece,  D 16,397 

Wm.  H.  Gest,  R 16,733 

J.  Ross  Hanna,  Pro 1,133 

Twelfth  District. 

Geo.  A.  Anderson,  D 18,718 

Oman  Pierson,  R 12,755 

Samuel  Woods,  Pro 1,079 

Thirteenth  District. 

Wm.  M.  Springer,  D 17,433 

Jas.  A.  Connolly,  R , 16,453 

Uriah  M.  Browder,  Pro 1,366 

Fourteenth  District. 

Jonathan  H.  Rowell,  R 15,319 

Wm.  Yoorhies,  D 12,917 

Wm.  W.  Alder,  Pro 1,786 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


547 


Fifteenth  District. 


Jos.  G.  Cannon,  R ! 16,739 

W.  D.  Lindsey,  D 15,314 

Archibald  Eastin,  Pro 810 

Sixteenth  District. 

Silas  Z.  Landes,  D 16,424 

Chas.  Churchill,  R 15,564 

Hale  Johnson,  Pro 720 

Seventeenth  District. 

Edward  Lane,  D 14,937 

Robt.  McWilliams,  R 11,557 

Henry  B.  Kebley,  Pro 1,231 

Eighteenth  District. 

Jehu  Baker,  R 15,396 

Wm.  R.  Morrison,  D 14,234 

Wm.  H.  Moore,  Pro 709 

Nineteenth  District. 

Richard  W.  Townshend,  D 16,316 

Jas.  S.  Martin,  R 11,972 

Robt.  R.  Link,  Pro 758 

Twentieth  District. 

John  R.  Thomas,  R 16,246 

Wm.  Hartzell,  D 15,074 

Samson  D.  Poor,  Pro 584 


The  same  reason  which  actuated  the  Prohibitionists 
in  running  candidates  for  Congress,  moved  them  to 
nominate  candidates  for  Senators  and  Representatives 
in  all  the  districts,  but  they  succeeded  in  electing  but 
a single  Representative, — Mr.  Lainont,  of  Winnebago 
County, — out  of  the  180  Senators  and  Representatives 
chosen  at  that  election. 

The  result  of  the  election  otherwise  was,  that  the 
Republicans  elected  twenty  Senators  and  seventy-eight 
Representatives,  thus  giving  them,  with  the  twelve 
hold-over  Senators,  a majority  in  both  houses. 


■548 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


STATE  GOVERNMENT— 1887, 


Governor — B.  J.  Oglesby. 

Lieutenant-Governor — John  C.  Smith. 

Secretary  of  State — Henry  D.  Dement. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Charles  P.  Swigert. 
Treasurer — John  E.  Tanner. 

Attorney- General — George  Hunt. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Eichard  Edwards. 


Thirty-Fifth  General,  Assembly. 


The  Thirty-fifth  General  Assembly  convened  January 
5,  1887. 

Senate. 


Adams,  Eobley  D.,  Fairfield. 
Bacon,  Chas.  H.,  Lockport. 
Bacon,  George  E.,  Paris.. 

Bell,  Andrew  J.,  Peoria. 
Berggren,  A.  W.,  Galesburg. 
Burke,  Eichard  M.,  Chicago. 
Cantwell,  Thomas  A.,  Chicago. 
Chapman,  T.  S.,  Jerseyville. 
Cochran,  Jas.  S.,  Freeport. 
Crabtree,  John  D..  Dixon. 
Crawford,  C.  H.,  Hyde  Park. 
Curtiss,  Ira  E , Marengo. 
Darnell,  John  M.,  Eushville. 
Dean,  George  W.,  Adams. 
Eckhart,  B.  A.,  Chicago. 

Fvans,  Henry  H.,  Aurora. 
Forman,  Wm.  S.,  Nashville. 
Funk,  Fafayette,  Shirley. 
Garrity,  Michael  F.,  Chicago. 
Gibbs,  George  A. , Chicago. 
Gore , David,  Carlinville. 
Greenwood,  C.  F.,  Sycamore. 
Hadley,  W.  F.  L.,  Edwardsville. 
Higgins,  John  J.,  DuQuoin. 
Hill,  Geo.  TF.,  Murphysboro. 
Hogan,  Daniel,  Mound  City. 


Humphrey,  John,  Orland. 
Johns,  Wm.  C.,  Decatur. 
Johnson,  Jas.  W..  Pittsfield. 
Knopf,  Philip,  Chicago. 

Leman,  Henry  W.,  Chicago. 
McGrath,  Thos.  L.,  Mattoon. 
Monahan,  James,  Chicago. 
Orendorff,  G.  P.,  Hopedale. 
Organ,  Richard  L.,  Carmi. 
Pearson,  Isaac  N.,  Macomb. 
Pierce,  John  H.,  Kewanee. 
Reavill,  A.  J.,  Flat  Bock. 
Eeinhardt,  Joseph,  Peru. 
Seiter,  Henry,  Lebanon. 

Shutt,  Wm.  E.,  Springfield. 
Southyiorth,  E.,  Litchfield. 
Stephenson,  L.  B.,  Shelby ville. 
Strattan , A.  M.,  Mt.  Vernon. 

* Streeter,  A.  J.,  New  Windsor. 
Sumner,  Edward  B.,  Bockford. 
•(•Thompson,  M.  B.,  Urbana. 
Torrance.  George,  Pontiac. 
Washburn,  E.  A.,  Princeton. 
Wheeler,  H.  K.,  Kankakee, 
Yost,  John,  Elba. 


♦Greenback-Democrat. 


tDied. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


549 


House  of  Representatives. 


Allen,  Chas.  A.,  Hoopeston. 
Allen,  Henry  W.,  Kirkwood. 

* Archer,  Wm.  R.,  Pittsfield. 
Bailey,  Geo.  S , East  St.  Louis. 
Baker,  John  H.,  Sullivan. 
Barger,  Simon  S.,  Eddyville. 
Bicklehaupt,  P.,  Waterloo. 
Blackburn,  H.  P.,  Danville. 
Bogardus,  Chas.,  Paxton. 
Bradshaw,  B.  H.,  Compton. 
Breeden,  R G.,  Tennessee. 
Brokoski,  F.  A.,  Chicago. 
Browne , Edgar  S.,  Mendota. 
♦Brown,  Alfred,  Albion. 

Brown,  John  J.,  Vandalia. 
Brubaker,  Aaron  H.,  Benson. 
Bundy , Wm.  H.,  Marion. 
Calhoun,  Wm.  F.,  Chnton. 
Campbell,  J.  R.,  McLeansboro. 
Carr,  James,  Scales  Mound. 
Chase,  Durfee  C.,  Englewood. 
Clark,  David  W.,  Chicago. 
Cleary,  Michael,  Odell. 

Cole,  Charles  B.,  Chester. 
Collins,  Wm.  H.,  Quincy. 

Condo,  Jos.  P.,  Moccasin. 
Converge,  A.  L.,  Springfield. 
Conway,  Bryan , Chicago. 
Cooley,  Orrin  P.,  Oneida. 
Coppinger,  John  W.,  Alton. 

Cox,  Isaac,  Marine. 

Crafts,  Clayton  E.,  Austin. 
Crawford,  W.  F.,  Taylor  Ridge. 
fCrim,  W.  L.,  Frankfort. 

Curtiss,  C.,  Downer’s  Grove. 
Davis,  Robert  H.,  CaiTollton. 
Day,  Wm.  Scott,  Jonesboro. 
Decker,  Henry,  Chicago. 

Dixon,  Chas.  G.,  Chicago. 
Dwyer,  Leo.  P.,  Chicago. 
Dwyer,  Michael  J.,  Chicago. 
Eastman,  Kirk  N.,  Chicago. 
Ecton,  Geo.  F.,  Chicago. 

Eddy,  John , Bloomington. 
Earley,  John  W.,  Chicago. 
Farrell,  James  H.,  Chicago. 
Faxon,  Edgar  W.,  Fox. 

Firoved,  Jas.  P.,  Monmouth. 
Fisher,  H.  V.,  Geneseo. 
Fletcher,  G.  V.  E.,  St.  Elmo. 
Ford,  John  S.,  Chicago. 

French,  Geo.  F.,  Sumner. 
Fuller,  Chas.  E.,  Belvidere. 


Furlong,  John  J.,  Chicago. 
Galloway,  Wm.  C.,  Aledo. 
George,  C.  C.,  Blackburn. 
Gittings,  C.  R.,  Terre  Haute. 
Gleason,  Jas.  F.,  Chicago. 
Grason,  Wm.,  Cerro  Gordo. 
Gray,  Robt.  A.,  Blue  Mound. 
Green,  E.  B.,  Mt.  Carmel. 
Halpin,  M.  D.,  Beardstown. 
Hamer,  Thomas,  Vermont. 
Hamilton,  F.  Y.,  Bloomington. 
Hamilton,  J.  L.,  Watseka. 

Hart,  John  M.,  Eden. 

Haven,  Dwight,  New  Lenox. 
Herrick,  0.  W.,  Chicago. 
*Heimann,  H.  H.,  Aviston. 
Herrington,  James,  Geneva. 
Holcomb,  Hiram,  Sycamore. 
♦Hoskinson,  W.  W.,  Benton. 
Huling,  Thomas,  Kankakee. 
Hunt,  Daniel  D.,  DeKalb. 
Hunter,  David,  Rockford. 

Jay,  Nelson  D.,  Elmwood. 
Johnson,  Caleb  C.,  Sterling. 
Jones,  Alfred  H.,  Robinson. 
Jones,  Wiley  E.,  Springfield. 
Karlowski,  Victor,  Chicago. 
fKaune,  Wm.  G.,  Breese. 
Kenny,  James,  Peoria. 

Keyser,  Hiram  M.,  Momence. 
Kinsey,  Samuel  B.,  McLean. 
Kister,  Wm.  H.,  Henry. 

Kret zinger,  Wm.  H.,  Latham. 
JLamont,  James,  Rockford. 
Larrabee,  Jame Latona. 
Littler,  David  T.,  Springfield. 
Lowry,  Alex.  K.,  Mt.  Sterling. 
McElligott,  T.  G.,  Chicago. 
McKinlay , Robt.  L.,  Paris. 
McLaughlin,  D.,  Braidwood. 
McNabb,  John,  Hardin. 
MacMillan,  T.  C.,  Chicago, 
Mahoney,  Jos.  P.,  Chicago. 
Marshall,  S.  P.,  Ipava. 
Merritt,  Thos.  E.,  Salem. 
Messick,  J.  B.,  East  St.  Louis. 
Meyer,  John,  Chicago. 

Miller,  James  H.,  Toulon, 
f Miller,  Samuel,  Minonk. 
Moran,  Thos.  J.,  Chicago. 
Morgan,  M.  A.,  Okawville. 
Morrasy,  Anthony,  Sheffield. 
Murphy,  Everett  J.,  Chester. 


♦Died. 


fSuccessor  to  Hoskinson. 


550  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Neely,  Chas.  G.,  Chicago. 
Nellis,  Chas.  F.,  Cairo. 
O’Connor,  James,  Chicago. 

* Patrick,  Samuel , Washburn. 
Partridge,  C.  A.,  Waukegan. 
Peel,  F.  M.,  White  Heath. 
Pepoon,  Geo.  W.,  Warren. 
Phillips,  Barrel,  Hillsboro. 
Piatt,  John  T.,  Cambridge. 
Pierce,  Hiram  L.,  Lincoln. 
Pollard,  O.  W.,  Dwight. 
Pomeroy,  Sterling,  Ohio. 
Purdvnn , Chas.  A.,  Marshall. 
Reynolds,  S.  A.,  Chicago. 
Reiley,  Thos.  H.,  Joliet. 

Rice,  Eugene,  Camargo. 
Rohrbach,  Geo.  F.,  Chicago. 
-(•Rude,  A.,  Bone  Gap. 

*Ruby,  Yirgil  S.,  Bement. 
Ruggles,  James  M.,  Havana. 
Sawyer,  Lewis  M.,  Streator. 
Saivyers,  Jas.  D.,  Oxville. 
Scharlau,  Chas.  E.,  Chicago. 
Schneider , J.  J.,  Effingham. 
SchoenewTald,  F.  E.,  Chicago. 


Sloan,  Wei.  G.,  Harrisburg. 
Smith,  Geo.  W.,  Jacksonville. 
Stewart,  John,  Elburn. 

Stover,  Emanuel,  Lanark. 
Symonds,  John,  S.,  Flora. 
Taggart,  Wes  ford,  Tuscola. 
Taylor,  J.  F.,  Harrisburg. 
Trench,  J.  P.,  LaSalle. 

Tyler,  Ira,  Richfield. 

Yeile,  Jos.,  Millstadt. 

Yickers,  A.  K.,  Yienna. 

Waite,  George,  Yolo. 

Ward,  Wm.  M.,  Greenfield. 
Wedig,  John,  Nameoki. 

Wells,  Albert  W.,  Quincy. 
White,  John  W.,  Tampico. 
Wilkinson,  Fred,  Petersburg. 
Williams,  W.  C.,  Carthage. 
Wilson,  Jas.  B.,  Carlinville. 
Wilson,  Jas.  P.,  Woosung. 
Wilson,  Samuel  F.,  Neoga. 
Wilson,  Thomas  A.,  Flora. 
Wright,  John  E.,  Murray ville. 
Wright,  Wm.  P.,  Chicago. 
Yocum,  Reuben  S.,  Cairo. 


Seawell,  Charles  W.,  Greenville. 

Lieut.-GoY.  Smith  presided  over  the  Senate.  A.  W. 
Berggren  was  elected  President  pro  tern.,  and  L.  F. 
Watson  Secretary.  W.  F.  Calhoun  was  elected  Speaker 
over  Clayton  E.  Crafts,  by  a vote  of  78  to  63;  Chas. 
G.  Dixon  received  8 votes  for  Speaker,  and  James 
Lamont  1.  John  A.  Reeve  was  elected  Clerk. 

The  death  of  Senator  Logan  devolved  upon  this 
General  Assembly  the  duty  of  choosing  his  successor. 
It  was  difficult  to  realize  that  the  man  who  had  fought 
successfully  so  many  hard  battles,  and  won  so  impos- 
ing a victory  over  a strong  and  valiant  foe,  only  two 
years  before,  was  no  longer  among  the  living. 

The  Senate  and  House  met  in  their  respective  cham- 
bers, on  Tuesday,  January  17th,  to  ballot  for  a United 
States  Senator  to  succeed  John  A.  Logan. 

*Died.  + Prohibition.  tSuccessor  to  Heimann. 

tSuccessor  to  Samuel  Patrick.  tSuccessor  to  Alfred  Brown. 
Republicans  in  Roman,  Democrats  in  Italic , and  United  Labor  in 
Small  Capitals. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  551 


The  vote  in  the  Senate  was  as  follows:  Chas.  B. 
Farwell,  32;  Wm.  K.  Morrison,  16;  B.  W.  Goodhue,  2. 
There  was  one  absentee.  The  vote  in  the  House  was 
as  follows:  Chas.  B.  Farwell,  78;  Wm.  R.  Morrison, 
63;  B.  W.  Goodhue,  8;  David  S.  McCullough,  1. 
There  were  three  absentees. 

On  Wednesday,  January  18th,  the  two  houses  met 
at  12  M.  in  joint  assembly,  to  declare  the  result  of  the 
vote  for  United  States  Senator.  The  records  of  the 
two  houses  were  read,  when  the  Speaker  declared 
Chas.  B.  Farwell  duly  elected  United  States  Senator, 
to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Senator 
Logan. 

Taking  the  character  of  the  legislation  of  this  ses- 
sion as  the  index,  it  is  fair  to  say  that  the  Thirty- 
fifth  General  Assembly  was  one  of  the  most  useful  that 
has  met  under  either  of  the  three  constitutions.  Of 
the  1,281  bills  introduced  by  the  two  houses,  but  212 
became  law's,  203  with  the  approval  of  the  Governor, 
and  nine  without.  There  were  two  vetoes,  both  of 
which  were  sustained.  Sixty-four  of  the  acts  related 
to  appropriations.  Among  the  more  important  laws 
were,  an  act  to  suppress  bucket  shops  and  gambling 
in  stocks,  bonds,  grain  and  provisions ; an  act  enlarg- 
ing the  powers  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse  Com- 
mission; an  act  relating  to  bribery  at  elections;  an 
act  establishing  a general  banking  system;  an  anti- 
riot act;  an  anti-boycott  act;  an  act  relating  to  con- 
spiracy; an  anti-dynamite  act;  an  act  giving  the 
police  additional  powers,  and  an  act  regulating  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  outside  of  incorporated 
cities,  towns  and  villages. 

This  body  adjourned  sine  die  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1887. 


552 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Printing  Investigation. 

As  one  of  the  sensations  of  the  Thirty-fifth  General 
Assembly  was  the  investigation  of  what  is  familiarly 
knowTn  as  the  “printing  combine/’  we  devote  a few 
pages  to  the  subject. 

In  September,  1886,  the  public  printing  was  let  to 
a firm  known  as  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.,  at  figures  con- 
siderably in  advance  of  those  at  which  the  printing 
had  been  let  at  any  time  since  the  memorable  inves- 
tigation of  the  public  printing  in  1874.  But  the  con- 
tract made  with  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.  did  not  equal 
the  maximum  rates  fixed  by  law  in  any  of  the  several 
classes.  When  it  became  known  that  the  rates  were 
higher  than  usual,  notwithstanding  a number  of  large 
printing  firms  had  been  bankrupted  by  taking  the 
State  printing  at  enormously  low  figures,  induced  by 
close  competition,  certain  newspapers  took  up  the 
matter,  and  the  cry  of  fraud  was  sounded  throughout 
the  borders  of  the  State,  and  in  order  to  satisfy  what 
seemed  to  be  a public  demand,  the  Senate  authorized 
an  investigation  of  the  subject,  and  Ira  R.  Curtiss,  H. 
K.  Wheeler,  Geo.  A.  Gibbs,  J.  J.  Higgins  and  Henry 
Seiter  were  appointed  a committee  to  perform  that 
task,  with  F.  C.  Dodds  as  short-hand  reporter.  The 
committee  made  an  investigation,  which  developed 
the  fact  that  Fred.  Gehring,  Phillips  Brothers,  Frank 
Hudson,  Jr.,  Thos.  S.  Pinckard,  Thomas  W.  S.  Kidd, 
Charles  Edwards,  C.  H.  Davenport,  H.  W.  Rokkerr 
Thomas  Rees  and  Chas.  T.  Strattan  had  “formed  a 
co-partnership  under  the  firm  name  of  H.  W.  Rokker  & 
Co.,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  and  executing  the 
State  contract  for  printing  the  six  different  classes. ” 

It  was  shown  in  the  evidence  that  the  bid  on  which 
the  award  was  made  was  signed  only  by  the  firm  name 
of  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.,  and  that  the  commissioners 
did  not  know  at  the  time  the  contract  was  let  what 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


553 


persons  composed  the  firm  other  than  Mr.  Rokker.  It 
was  also  shown  that  there  were  four  other  bids, 
namely;  Phillips  Bros.,  F.  Gehring,  Frank  Hudson, 
Jr.,  and  Shober  & Carqueville  Litograph  Co.  All  were 
higher  than  the  bid  of  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.,  except 
that  of  Mr.  Gehring,  who  bid  only  on  two  classes;  it 
was  lower  on  the  first  class,  but  the  bid  was  thrown 
out  because  of  informality. 

In  summing  up  the  case,  majority  and  minority  re- 
ports were  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  its  action,  the 
former  being  signed  by  Messrs.  Curtiss,  Wheeler  and 
Gibbs,  while  the  latter  contained  the  names  of  Messrs. 
Seiter  and  Higgins.  The  majority  report  charged  the 
existence  of  a conspiracy  to  obtain  the  printing  con- 
tract, without  passing  upon  the  question  as  to  whether 
the  rates  were  too  high,  and  recommended  the  annull- 
ing of  the  contract,  while  the  minority  jeport  sought 
in  addition  the  censure  of  the  Commissioners  of  State 
Contracts  for  a dereliction  of  duty,  at  the  same  time 
singling  out  the  Secretary  of  State,  H.  D.  Dement,  as 
an  object  of  special  censure.  Mr.  Dement  promptly 
appeared  with  a fiery  answer,  in  which  he  indignantly 
combatted  every  reflection  upon  himself  or  upon  his 
co-commissioners,  and  asked  that  it  be  made  a part 
of  the  record  in  the  investigation.  He  closed  his 
answer  in  these  words: 

“For  what  reason  the  minority  of  the  committee 
have  seen  fit  to  single  me  out  as  a target  for  their 
censure,  I am  at  a loss  to  know,  but  I am  conscious 
of  being  actuated  in  my  conduct  in  this  whole  matter 
by  the  sole  desire  of  simply  doing  my  duty  as  an  honest 
official,  and  confidently  submit  to  the  Senate,  as  well 
as  to  the  tax  payers  of  the  State,  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  facts  or  the  evidence  which  warrants  the  unjust 
accusations  made  against  me  by  said  minority  report. ” 

The  contractors  also  appeared  with  a vigorous  pro- 
test against  the  action  of  the  committee,  and  asked 
that  it  be  made  a part  of  the  record  in  the  proceedings 


554 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


They  avowed  that  their  partnership  was  in  no  sense 
a conspiracy,  and  claimed  that  they  had  been  denied 
fair  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  committee.  Their 
protest  opened  thus: 

“ Gentlemen,  having  been  denied  the  right  of  present- 
ing testimony  in  our  behalf,  refused  the  privilege  of 
appearing  by  counsel,  and  not  allowed  to  examine  the 
evidence  taken  before  your  committee,  we  hereby  re- 
spectfully protest  against  such  treatment,  and  confi- 
dently assert  that  the  history  of  legislation  in  this 
State  will  show  no  other  instance  where  such  rights 
have  been  withheld.” 

The  minority  report  provoked  a heated  discussion 
on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  Senators  Thompson, 
Crabtree,  Wheeler,  Southworth  and  Johns  spoke  for 
the  commissioners,  avowing  their  belief  in  the  strict 
integrity  of  each  and  all  of  them,  and  Senators  Seiter, 
Higgins  and  Forman,  advocated  earnestly  and  with 
warmth,  the  adoption  of  the  minority  report.  When 
the  vote  was  taken  on  the  question,  it  resulted  in, 
yeas  11  and  nays  35. 

Acting  in  conformity  with  the  recommendations  con- 
tained in  the  majority  report,  the  General  Assembly 
inserted  a clause  in  the  appropriation  bill  for  public 
printing,  which  rendered  the  contract  with  H.  W.  Rokker 
& Co.  nugatory,  and  subsequently,  the  Commissioners  of 
State  Contracts  declined  to  pay  the  company  a balance 
claimed  to  be  due  them  on  printing  at  the  time  of  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  when  a writ  of  man- 
damus was  applied  for  in  the  Sangamon  Circuit  Court 
by  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.,  to  compel  the  payment  of 
their  claim.  The  Attorney-General  filed  an  answer  to 
the  petition  for  the  mandamus,  in  which  he  set  up 
very  fully  the  alleged  combination,  and  insisted  that 
the  contract  was  obtained  by  fraudulent  means,  and 
was  therefore  null  and  void,  and  that  no  further  pay- 
ment ought  to  be  made  by  reason  or  on  account 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


555 


thereof.  To  this  answer  the  plaintiffs  filed  a general 
demurrer.  Judge  Creighton  sustained  the  demurrer, 
and  concluded  his  opinion  in  these  words: 

“It  appears,  under  the  averments  in  the  answer, 
that  the  contract  set  out  in  the  petition  is  not  void, 
but  merely  voidable  at  the  instance  of  the  defendants. 
It  appears  that  there  has  been  a performance  and 
acceptance  under  the  contract  to  the  amount  of 
$32,722.11.  It  appears  that  the  defendants  could  not 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  that  they  have  not 
attempted  to  place  petitioners  in  statu  quo  by  return- 
ing the  goods  or  product.  It  is  presumed  from  the 
law  and  facts  of  the  case,  and  appears  from  the  silence 
of  the  answer  on  this  point,  that  the  contract  price 
is  not  above  the  fair  market  price,  and  that  the  State 
has  sustained  no  legal  loss  or  damage  by  reason  of 
the  alleged  fraud  or  ‘combine,5  and  it  appears  that 
there  is  due  to  the  petitioners  the  sum  of  $8,722.11, 
as  claimed  in  the  petition,  for  work  done  and  delivered 
by  petitioners  and  accepted,  used  and  consumed  by 
the  State. 

“I  am  of  opinion  that  the  defendants  may  avoid 
further  performance  of  the  contract,  but  I am  also  of 
the  opinion  that  under  the  admitted  facts  in  this  case, 
and  the  law,  that  the  defendant  ought  to  perform  pro 
tanto.  They  ought  to  pay  the  contract  price  for  all 
goods  or  product  they  have  accepted,  distributed, 
used  and  consumed.55 

It  is  related  that  while  the  investigation  was  in 
progress,  a sub-committee  waited  upon  Gov.  Oglesby, 
and  demanded  the  removal  of  Printer  Expert  Hughes, 
alleging  cause,  and  when  this  became  known  to  the 
public,  the  invectives  which  had  been  hurled  at  the 
commissioners  were  turned,  in  a great  measure,  upon 
Mr.  Hughes.  But  the  Governor  took  no  action  till 
sometime  in  August,  when  he  peremptorily  removed 
Mr.  Hughes  from  office,  he  having  declined  to  resign 
without  being  given  a reason  for  the  desire  to  remove 
him.  This  action  of  the  Governor  gave  Mr.  Hughes 
occasion  to  defend  himself,  and  he  addressed  a formal 


556 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


communication  to  him,  detailing  at  length  his  connec- 
tion with  the  letting  of  the  contract.  Referring 
directly  to  the  Governor,  he  said. 

“Now,  what  are  the  facts?  When  the  bids  were 
opened  by  the  commissioners,  last  September,  you 
were  present.  There  were  several  bids,  but  all  were  by 
the  commissioners  thrown  out  for  irregularities,  except 
the  bid  of  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co.  There  was,  therefore, 
nothing,  under  the  law^,  for  the  Printer  Expert  to  do. 
The  single  bid  spoke  for  itself — there  was  no  other  bid 
with  which  to  compare  it,  and  it  was  both  the  lowest 
and  the  highest  bid.  Now,  it  required  no  Printer 
Expert  to  see  that  that  bid  was  higher  than  the  suc- 
cessful bid  of  two  years  before,  and  whether  it  should 
be  accepted  or  not  lay  entirely  with  the  commissioners 
and  yourself.  Surely  you  do  not  need  me  to  tell  you 
that,  without  your  approval,  the  bid  could  not  have 
been  accepted  and  made  the  basis  of  a contract;  and 
that,  with  your  approval,  this  bid  and  all  bids  might 
have  been  rejected. 

“I  was  present  at  the  time  referred  to,  and  though 
not  required  so  to  do  by  the  law,  but  of  my  own 
motion,  I made  an  estimate  of  the  amount  of  money 
that  would  be  required  to  execute  a contract  based 
on  such  bid,  upon  the  basis  of  the  quantity  of  work 
specified  in  the  circular  instructing  bidders,  and  re- 
ported the  same  to  the  commissioners  and  yourself 
before  the  bid  was  accepted.  That  estimate  showed 
that  it  would  require  about  $78,700,  if  this  bid  was 
accepted,  for  public  printing  for  the  next  two  years. 
At  the  same  time  you  were  informed  by  me  that  the. 
last  contract  required  only  about  $34,000,  so  that  the 
Rokker  & Co.  bid  exceeded  the  prior  contract  by  over 
$44,000. 

“With  this  information  before  you,  you  deliberately, 
and  after  a week’s  delay,  approved  the  Rokker  & Co. 
bid,  thereby  giving  your  official  sanction  to  an  in- 
creased expenditure  for  public  printing  of  over  $44,000. 

“Under  the  law,  you  have  the  power  to  remove  me 
from  office  and  appoint  my  successor,  but  under  'the 
circumstances  stated,  and  with  a consciousness  that 
my  resignation  would  be  construed  as  a tacit  admis- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


557 


sion  of  wrong-doing  on  my  part  without  foundation 
in  fact,  I most  respectfully  decline  your  invitation  to 
allow  myself  to  be  made  a voluntary  sacrificial  offering 
to  appease  an  outraged  public  sentiment.’7 

The  Governor  rested  his  action  in  removing  Mr. 
Hughes,  without  deigning  a reply,  thus  leaving  the 
inference  that  he  was  not  unwilling  to  assume  all  the 
responsibility  of  approving  the  contract  which  right- 
fully belonged  to  him. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  the  Governor  would  have 
disturbed  Mr.  Hughes  had  he  known  that  he  was  in- 
nocent of  the  charge  of  wrong  doing,  and  whatever 
may  have  been  his  motive  for  desiring  a change  in 
'the  office  of  Printer  Expert,  Mr.  Hughes  evidently  be- 
lieved that  he  sought  his  removal  because  of  a belief 
that  he  had  committed  some  improper  act  in  connec- 
tion with  the  consummation  of  the  contract  with  H. 
W.  Rokker  & Co.,  and  he  therefore  addressed  the 
Governor  in  self-defense. 

Mr.  Hughes7  critical  statement  taken  in  connection 
with  his  testimony  and  that  of  the  commissioners 
before  the  committee,  together  with  the  answer  of  Mr. 
Dement  to  the  accusations  made  in  the  minority  re- 
port, and  the  protest  of,  the  contractors,  exposed  the 
whole  transaction  to  full  view;  and  while  a combina- 
tion may  have  existed,  it  is  shown  by  the  testimony 
of  the  commissioners  that  they  had  no  foreknowledge 
of  what  the  bidders  had  done  at  the  time  the  bids 
were  opened  and  the  contract  awarded. 

Subsequently,  the  case  was  carried  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  which  reversed  the  opinion  of  the 
lower  court  and  remanded  it. 

This  calls  to  mind  a similar  investigation  which 
took  place  under  the  direction  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives at  the  adjourned  session  of  the  Twenty- 
eighth  General  Assembly,  in  1874.  James  13.  Bradwell 


558 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


and  John  H.  Oberly,  the  first  a Republican  and  the 
other  a Democrat,  were  the  leading  members  in  the 
investigation,  and  to  whose  persistence  the  people  are 
chiefly  indebted  for  the  passage  of  the  law  which  now 
so  rigidly  protects  their  interests  in  the  matter  of 
awarding  State  contracts.  The  investigation  developed 
a grave  conspiracy  in  connection  with  the  printing 
contract  of  1872,  and  wide-spread  extravagance  in 
the  manner  in  which  the  printing  was  executed.  There 
was  a majority  and  a minority  report.  The  name  of 
Mr.  Oberly  appeared  on  the  first,  and  that  of  Mr. 
Bradwell  on  the  other.  The  majority  report  expressed 
the  conviction  that  while  the  commissioners  had  not 
exercised  the  judgment  and  care  that  the  interests  of 
the  State  required,  yet  they  had  not  been  guilty  of 
any  "corrupt  motives  in  reference  to  the  matters  in- 
vestigated. The  minority  report  was  silent  on  this 
subject,  but  pointed  out  in  detail  the  manner  in  which 
the  conspiracy  was  consummated  and  the  many  irreg- 
ularities in  doing  the  printing.  It  w^as  shown  that 
$ 10,500  had  been  expended  in  securing  the  withdrawal 
of  bids  at  the  time  the  contract  was  awarded,  in 
August,  1872,  at  maximum  prices  for  composition 
and  presswork.  Although  the  public  printing  was  then 
not  more  than  half  of  what  it  is  now,  it  cost  the  State 
$108,316.69  for  the  two  years.  This  was  accomplished, 
says  the  report  of  the  committee,  by  a system  of 
measurements  which  allowed  payment  on  constructive 
composition  and  presswork.  In  one  instance  it  was 
shown  that  $9,750  had  been  allowed  for  presswork, 
when  at  the  maximum  price,  at  which  the  contract 
had  been  authorized  by  law,  the  charge  should  not 
have  exceeded  $1,275.  It  is  therefore  easy  to  under- 
stand how  the  cost  of  the  printing  could  have  been 
swelled  to  such  fabulous  figures. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


559 


In  this  connection  it  is  just  to  say  that  while  this 
investigation  arrested  a great  wrong,  yet  it  has 
enabled  the  State  to  secure  its  printing  since  that  time 
at  ruinously  low  prices,  and  while  the  printing  under 
the  contract  of  1886  would  have  exceeded  that  of  the 
contract  of  1884  more  than  forty-four  thousand 
dollars,  the  bid  was  twenty-five  per  cent,  below  the 
maximum  figures  fixed  by  law,  and  with  that  fact 
before  them,  the  commissioners,  no  doubt,  felt  war- 
ranted in  awarding  the  contract  upon  the  single  bid 
of  H.  W.  Rokker  & Co. 

But,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  in  passing 
upon  this  case,  so  construed  the  law  as  to  hereafter 
enable  the  Commissioners  of  State  Contracts  to  pro- 
tect the  interests  of  the  State,  and  yet  authorize  them 
to  reject  bids  which  might  seem  to  involve  bidders  in 
bankruptcy. 


CHAPTER  LXVL 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1888, 

Republican  State  Convention. 

The  Republicans  were  the  first  to  marshal  their 
forces  for  the  contest  of  1888,  but  long  before  the 
time  for  calling  the  convention  to  nominate  a State 
ticket,  a strong  desire  became  manifest  in  different 
parts  of  the  State  for  a change  in  the  roll  of  public 
servants,  and  such  journals  as  the  Champaign  Herald, 
Peoria  Transcript,  Quincy  Whig,  Bureau  County 
Republican,  Mt.  Carroll  Mirror,  and  Belleville  Advo- 
cate, came  out  strongly  advocating  a change  in  the 
State  administration,  and  by  the  time  the  convention 
met  the  sentiment  had  become  so  universal  that  it 
was  evident  that  candidates  who  had  held  office  for 


560 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


more  than  one  term  would  have  but  little  support  in 
convention.  The  feeling  in  favor  of  what  the  Cham- 
paign Herald  had  denominated  new  blood  was  so 
strong  that,  although  Gov.  Oglesby  was  present,  the 
convention  lacked  the  courtesy  to  invite  him  to 
address  the  body,  and  adjourned  without  making  a 
single  reference  to  his  administration.  Here  was  a 
sad  spectacle  for  a man  who  had  been  a soldier  in 
two  wars — a major-general  in  one — a State  Senator, 
three  times  Governor  of  his  State — twice  receiving  the 
nomination  without  opposition — and  once  a United 
States  Senator;  a man  who  executed  the  law  without 
fear  when  the  whole  State  trembled  for  the  safety  of 
his  life.  But  such  is  the  fate  of  those  who  follow  the 
fortunes  of  politics.  One  day  their  flag  flies  from  the 
temple  of  fame,  and  the  next  it  trails  in  the  dust.  A 
mob  received  Douglas  in  Chicago,  in  1854,  on  his 
return  from  Congress.  In  1858  the  people  elected  a 
legislature  which  triumphantly  returned  him  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  In  1860  he  was  egged  at  a 
public  meeting  in  Montgomery,  the  capital  of  Ala- 
bama. In  1861  Chicago  honored  him  in  a manner 
that  made  the  close  of  his  illustrious  life  most 
glorious. 

But  returning  to  the  work  of  the  convention,  which 
convened  May  2,  there  were  never  before  so  many 
candidates  for  public  trusts,  and  it  was  in  great  con- 
trast with  the  convention  of  1876.  Then  there  were 
but  two  soldier  candidates  for  Governor,  neither  of 
whom  was  nominated,  and  but  one  soldier  secured  a 
place  upon  the  ticket.  But  this  time  nearly  every 
candidate  for  office  had  been  a soldier,  and  four  of 
the  six  nominees  served  in  the  war  for  the  Union. 
The  candidates  for  Governor  were  Gen.  John  McNulta, 
Gen.  John  I.  Rinaker,  Gen.  John  C.  Smith,  Lieut. -Col. 
James  A.  Connolly,  Col.  Clark  E.  Carr,  Lieut.  Francis 


WKHTKItX  HANK  NOTK  CO  CHIC 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


561 


M.  Wright,  and  Private  Joseph  W.  Fifer.  With  the 
exception  of  Col.  Carr,  all  had  been  soldiers  in  the 
war  for  the  Union,  but  he  was  in  active  service  on 
the  staff  of  Gov.  Yates  during  that  period.  Gen. 
Rinaker  was  mustered  in  as  colonel  of  the  122d 
Illinois  Infantry.  All  the  others  tendered  their  ser- 
vices as  privates,  and  came  out  of  the  conflict  with 
the  rank  hereinbefore  affixed  to  their  respective  names. 
McNulta  served  four  years,  two  months  and  fifteen 
days;  Rinaker,  two  years,  ten  months  and  twelve 
days;  Smith,  two  years,,  ten  months  and  twenty-seven 
days;  Connolly,  two  years  and  ten  months;  Fifer, 
three  years,  one  month  and  nineteen  days;  Wright, 
lour  years  and  one  month. 

Not  since  1880,  when  Logan  and  Farwell  measured 
arms  over  Grant  on  the  third  term  question,  have, 
what  is  popularly  denominated,  machine  politics  been 
so  widely  practiced  in  Illinois  as  they  were  in  the 
campaign  of  1888.  The  convention  of  1880  arbitra- 
rily selected  eighteen  delegates  to  the  National  Con- 
vention favorable  to  the  nomination  of  Gen.  Grant 
for  President  a third  time.  The  matter  was  carried 
by  C.  B.  Farwell  to  the  National  Convention,  where 
the  action  of  the  State  Convention  was  set  aside,  and 
the  delegates,  who  had  been  chosen  by  districts,  were 
admitted  to  seats  in  the  convention. 

That  we  may  not  be  misunderstood  as  to  the  use 
and  meaning  of  the  term  machine,  we  borrow  an 
idea  from  Benton’s  Thirty  Years’  View  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  Machine  politics,  said  he,  enables  the 
few  to  subvert  the  will  of  the  people,  leaving  them  no 
more  the  control  over  the  nomination  of  candidates 
for  office  than  the  subjects  of  Kings  have  over  the 
birth  of  the  child  that  is  born  to  rule  over  them,  and 
that  those  who  promote  the  nomination  of  any  par- 
ticular man  for  a high  trust,  do  so  to  enable  them  to , 

36 


562  . POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

eat  out  of  the  public  crib,  and  that  the  system  rele- 
gates to  retirement  the  men  of  ability  and  brings  into 
public  life  the  mediocre. 

The  most  conspicuous  example  we  have  of  machine 
politics  in  the  United  States  was  in  1824.  A minority 
of  the  Democratic  members  of  Congress  nominated 
William  H.  Crawford  for  President.  This  action  was 
not  accepted  by  the  Democratic  masses  as  being  the 
will  of  the  party,  and  Andrew  Jackson  was  brought 
forward  as  the  People’s  candidate.  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  Henry  Clay  were  brought  out  by  bodies 
of  their  personal  friends  in  different  States.  At  the 
election,  •which  followed  in  November,  Jackson  received, 
of  the  popular  vote,  155,872;  Adams,  105,321;  Clay, 
46,587 ; Crawford,  44,282.  Of  the  electoral  vote,  those 
of  Delaware,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  New  York,  South 
Carolina  and  Vermont  were  chosen  by  the  State  Leg- 
islatures, and  the  popular  vote  for  President  in  those 
States  is  not  therefore  known,  but  out  of  the  seventy- 
one  electoral  votes  chosen  by  the  machinery  of  the 
legislatures,  Jackson  received  only  15,  namely,  Louis- 
iana 3,  New  YTork  1,  and  South  Carolina  11.  The 
whole  number  of  electoral  votes  was  261,  of  which 
Jackson  received  99,  Adams  84,  Crawford  41,  Clay  37. 
Necessary  to  a choice  131.  No  one  having  a majority, 
the  election  devolved  upon  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Under  the  constitution,  as  it  then  existed,  the 
choice  by  the  House  was  confined  to  the  three  candi- 
dates who  had  received  the  highest  number  of  votes 
in  the  Electoral  College,  and  each  State  was  entitled 
to  one  vote.  Clay  not  being  one  of  the  three,  his  name 
was  excluded.  The  Representatives  from  some  of  the 
States,  whose  electoral  votes  were  given  for  Jackson, 
voted  for  Adams.  Illinois  was  included  in  that  num- 
ber. Daniel  P.  Cook  was  then  our  only  Representa- 
tive in  Congress,  and  he  voted  for  Adams,  although 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


563 


Jackson  carried  the  State  by  a plurality  of  359.  The 
vote  of  Kentucky  was  also  cast  for  Adams,  and  Henry 
Clay  was  openly  charged  with  bargaining  it  away 
that  he  might  become  Secretary  of  State,  and  whether 
the  charge  was  true  or  false,  it  so  shocked  the  sensi- 
bilities of  the  people  that  it  drove  him  out  of  the 
Democratic  party  into  the  Whig,  and  marred  his  fame 
as  long  as  he  lived.  There  was  opposition  to  the  con- 
firmation of  Clay,  and  although  the  vote  of  Illinois 
had  been  cast  for  Adams,  the  Senators  were  divided 
upon  the  question;  Kane  voted  for  his  confirmation 
and  Thomas  against.  It  is  a remarkable  fact  that 
Andrew  Jackson  and  William  Henry  Harrison  were 
both  United  States  Senators  at  that  time,  and  both 
were  afterward  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

• At  the  next  election  for  Kepresentatives  in  Congress, 
a body  was  chosen  which  opposed  the  administration 
of  Adams.  Mr.  Cook  was  defeated  in  Illinois  by  Joseph 
Duncan,  a strong  Jackson  man,  and  at  the  ensuing 
presidential  election,  in  1828,  Jackson  was  elected  over 
Adams  by  a vote  of  more  than  two  to  one.  Jacksoii 
received  178  electoral  votes,  and  Adams  83.  The  total 
popular  vote  was  1,156,328.  Jackson  received  647,- 
231;  Adams,  509,097.  Jackson’s  majority,  138, 134‘. 
In  Illinois,  his  majority  over  Adams  was  5,182,  out  of 
a total  vote  of  8,344. 

Illustrative  of  the  power  of  the  caucus  in  conven- 
tions, we  note  the  fact  that  Cook  County,  with  her 
170  delegates,  though  selected  from  ten  different  Sen- 
atorial districts,  117  voted  as  a unit  in  the  State  con- 
vention, and  thus  exercised  a controlling  influence  in 
its  work.  McLean  County,  the  next  in  strength,  with 
nineteen  delegates,  voted  as  a unit,  but  they  were 
not  selected  without  a strong  protest  from  Gen. 
McNulta,  a citizen  of  the  county,  and  candidate  for 
Governor.  He  addressed  an  open  letter  to  his  friends, 


564 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


under  date  of  March  19,  1888,  in  which  he  avowed 
that  his  candidacy  was  r confined  to  one  county, 
but  extended  into  102,  anu  in  it  appeared  this  bold 
passage : 

“The  chairman  of  your  county  committee  has  in 
many  important  matters  usurped  the  functions  vested 
in  the  whole  committee,  and  has  prostituted  his  posi- 
tion by  sending  broadcast  throughout  the  State  his 
stereotyped  letters,  in  which  he  arrogated  to  himself 
the  right  to  represent  the  Republicans  of  the  county. 
These  letters,  bearing  the  stamp,  and  significantly 
stating  the  fact  that  he  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, their  animus  being  vicious  and  unfair,  clearly 
indicates  what  may  be  expected.  The  machine  is 
against  us,  and  determined  to  resort  to  all  known 
political  expedients  to  prevent  us  from  getting  a 
favorable  delegation.  They  claim  that  their  candidate 
is  the  strongest  in  the  State,  but  have  refused  to 
assent  to  sending  a delegation  to  vote  solidly  for  the 
one  that  develops  the  greatest  strength  in  the  State, 
the  weakest  man  to  be  withdrawn.  They  refuse  to 
allow  delegates  to  the  State  convention  to  each  candi- 
date in  proportion  to  his  strength  in  the  county  con- 
vention, but  insist  upon  the  enforcement  of  the  unit 
rule.  I do  not  want  to  appear  in  person,  or  by  proxy, 
either  as  a beggar  for  votes  or  a brawler  for  delegates. 
I say,  do  not  go  near  the  primaries  or  county  con- 
vention. Let  them  have  the  delegates,  and  make  them 
in  their  own  way.” 

But  the  caucus  work  was  not  alone  confined  to  the 
densely  populated  counties.  In  Massac,  the  friends  of 
Maj.  James  A.  Connolly  felt  confident  that  delegates 
lavorable  to  his  nomination  for  Governor  would  be 
chosen,  but  to  their  surprise  they  were  instructed  to 
vote  as  a unit  for  Joseph  W.  Fifer  for  Governor. 

It  had  been  broadly  stated  by  candidates  themselves, 
before  the  assembling  of  the  convention,  that  a com- 
bination had  been  formed  by  which  the  nomination  of 
a ticket  would  be  confined  to  the  voice  of  the  few 
instead  of  being  the  clearly  expressed  will  of  the  con- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


565 


vention,  and  candidates  for  governor,  whose  names 
were  not  included  in  the  combination,  sought  to  break 
it  by  having  their  delegates  stand  firm,  but  in  this 
they  failed.  The  first  roll  call  stood  : Fifer  288, 
McNulta  136,  Carr  115,  Connolly  100,  Rinaker  98, 
Smith  58,  Wright  48,  Oglesby  4.  Total  847.  Neces- 
sary to  a choice  424.  The  second  ballot  was,  Fifer  349r 
McNulta  133,  Connolly  96,  Rinaker  77,  Carr  110, 
Smith  45,  Wright  33,  Oglesby  4.  Third  ballot,  Fifer 
398,  McNulta  144,  Connolly  89,  Rinaker  62,  Carr  97, 
Smith  36,  Wright  21.  Fourth  ballot,  Fifer  606, 
McNulta  111,  Connolly  58,  Rinaker  32,  Carr  9,  Smith 
17,  Wright  14.  It  is  evident  by  the  first  ballot  that 
if  the  delegates  had  adhered  to  their  respective  candi- 
dates that  the  combination  would  have  lost  its  power 
before  the  nomination  of  Governor  was  consummated. 
There  were  four  names  presented  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  namely,  W.  H.  Collins,  R.  H.  Sturgis,  L.  B. 
Ray  and  J.  S.  Cochran.  On  the  first  ballot  the  vote 
stood,  Collins  277,  Sturgis  81,  Ray  364,  Cochran  125. 
On  the  second  ballot  the  name  of  Sturgis  was  with- 
drawn, when  Ray  was  nominated.  The  vote  wasr 
Collins  97,  Cochran  256,  Ray  494.  Here  the  combi- 
nation went  to  pieces  amidst  great  confusion.  Five 
candidates  were  announced  for  Secretary  of  State. 
Isaac  N.  Pearson  was  nominated  on  the  fifth  ballot. 
There  were  eleven  candidates  for  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts.  C.  W.  Pavey  was  nominated  on  the  fifth 
ballot. 

Charles  Becker  was  nominated  for  Treasurer,  without 
opposition.  The  names  of  George  Hunt  and  James 
H.  Miller  were  placed  in  nomination  for  Attorney- 
General,  but  before  the  first  roll  call  was  concluded, 
the  name  of  Mr.  Miller  was  withdrawn,  when  the  nom- 
ination of  Mr.  Hunt  was  made  unanimous. 


566 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  convention  remained  in  session  from  3 o’clock 
p.  m.  until  12:15  a.  m.,  adjourning  without  a single 
ratification  speech.  With  the  selection  of  delegates-  to 
the  National  Convention,  the  formation  of  the  electoral 
ticket,  State  Central  Committee,  and  the  nomination 
of  candidates  for  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor, 
the  power  of  the  combination  ceased.  Bad  blood  was 
apparent  in  every  quarter.  Candidates,  whose  names 
had  been  associated  with  the  combination,  charged 
each  other  with  bad  faith,  while  others,  who  had 
stood  aloof  from  intrigue,  were  loud  in  its  denuncia- 
tion, and  for  a time  the  success  of  the  ticket  was 
endangered. 


On  the  16th  of  September,  Mr.  Fifer  opened  the 
campaign  in  an  elaborate  speech,  delivered  at  the 
opera  house  in  Springfield.  After  quoting  the  charges 
of  the  Democratic  State  convention  against  the  State 
administration  and  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Fifer  said: 

“ Here,  then,  we  have  the  charge  not  only  of  extrav- 
agance, but  also  a charge  of  corruption.  Now  it  is 
highly  probable  that  the  man  who  wrote  the  Demo- 
cratic platform,  and  a large  majority  of  those  who 
voted  for  its  adoption,  knew  at  the  time  that  the 
statements  made  were  false  in  every  line,  word  and 
syllable;  and  there  is  no  good  reason  known  to  me 
why  a political  party  should  not  be  held  morally  re- 
sponsible for  its  falsehoods  and  slanders  to  the  same 
extent  as  an  individual. 

“The  impression  sought  to  be,  and  which,  no  doubt, 
largely  has  been,  made  on  the  minds  of  the  people  by 
this  Democratic  falsehood  is,  that  the  expenditures  for 
the  year  1887  were  $1,500,000  in  excess  of  what  they 
were  for  the  preceding  year,  and  that  through  extrav- 
agance or  dishonesty,  or  both,  the  expenditures  of 
the  State  have  increased  $1,500,000,  in  one  year.  I 
will  set  the  Democratic  party  a high  example  of 
candor  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  campaign,  and 
concede,  if  this  charge  is  true,  that  the  Bepublican 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  567 

party  has  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  Illinois,  and  should  be  defeated  in  this  State 
at  the  coining  election.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
charge  is  false,  and  the  political  party  making  it  knew 
it  was  false,  then  that  party  should  be  held  responsible 
for  its  falsehoods  and  slanders,  and  should  be  kept 
out  of  power  in  this  State  for  another  thirty-two 
years.  * * * * 

“It  is  true,  the  levy  bill  of  1887  provided  for  raising 
about  $ 1,500,000  more  revenue  in  that  year  than  the 
levy  bill  of  1885  provided  for  the  year  1886.  But, 
mark  you,  it  was  not  because  the  Legislature  of  1887 
appropriated  more  money  than  did  the  preceding  one, 
for  just  the  reverse  of  this  is  true.  That  is  to  say, 
the  appropriations  made  by  the  Legislature  of  1885 
aggregate  $7,776,458.54,  while  those  made  by  the 
Legislature  of  1887  amount  to  $7,731,398.02,  making 
a difference  in  favor  of  the  Legislature  of  1887  of 
$45,060.52.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  it  is  dis- 
honestly sought  to  make  it  appear  that  there  has 
been  an  increase  in  the  expenditures  of  the  people’s 
money  amounting  to  $1,500,000  in  one  year,  and 
consequently  that  there  is  corruption  and  extravagance 
in  the  management  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  State 
by  the  Republican  party.  * * * * 

“The  Legislature  of  1885  was  Democratic  in  the 
lower  house,  Hon.  E.  M.  Haines,  the  sage  of  Lake 
County,  being  Speaker  of  the  House.  All  the  com- 
mittees were  controlled  by  Democrats ; and  the  records 
will  show  that  this  house,  dominated  as  it  was  by 
Democrats,  reduced  the  levy  bill  of  1885  to  a point  too 
low  to  meet  the  appropriations  made  by  that  same 
house.  It  was  an  open  secret  at  the  time  that  the 
levy  bill  was  cut  down  for  the  deliberate  purpose  of 
compelling  the  next  succeeding  Legislature  to  increase 
the  tax  rate,  and  thus,  by  comparing  the  levy  of 
1886  with  that  of  1887,  lay  the  foundation  for  the 
false  charge  that  is  now  being  made,  namely:  That 
the  Republicans  have,  by  extravagance  and  corruption, 
increased  the  State  expenditures  $1,500,000  in  one 
a ear,  and  have  increased  the  tax  rate  from  35  cents, 
in  1886,  to  53  cents,  in  1887,  on  each  $100  of  taxable 


568  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

property.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  voters 
of  Illinois  can  be  deceived  by  a piece  of  political  dis- 
honesty so  transparent  as  this.  * * * * 

“The  whole  point,  then,  is  here:  While  the  last  two 
Legislatures  have  been  required  to  provide  for  an 
increased  outlay  of  money  amounting  to  about 
$1,500,000,  the  Democratic  House  of  1885  was  enabled 
in  the  manner  stated  to  reduce  its  levy  bill,  while  the 
Legislature  of  1887,  which  was  Republican,  was  com- 
pelled to  raise,  by  its  levy  bill,  a sufficient  sum  to  pay 
the  full  amount  of  its  appropriations.  On  this  cir- 
cumstance alone  is  founded  all  this  cry  of  extrava- 
gance and  corruption  which  is  being  shouted  so  ener- 
getically by  the  Democratic  managers  of  the  State. ” 

This  unequivocal  defense  of  the  party  administra- 
tion was  received  with  some  surprise  by  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Fifer,  but  it  is,  indeed,  a brave  man  who  declines 
to  defend  the  administration  of  his  party  when  openly 
assailed  by  an  enemy,  who  seeks  its  overthrow.  We 
remember  but  two  illustrious  examples,  wherein  the 
interests  of  the  people  were  made  paramount  to  party. 
When  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Bristow,  and  the 
Solicitor,  Wilson,  were  charged  with  the  duty  of  in- 
vestigating the  whisky  conspiracy,  and  although  it 
led  to  the  very  portals  of  the  White  House,  they  did 
not  relax  their  efforts  to  ferret  out  the  guilty,  but 
Grant,  conscious  of  his  own  purity  of  character,  said, 
“Let  no  guilty  man  escape,  no  matter  how  close  he 
may  claim  to  be  to  the  administration/’  and  having 
boldly  and  broadly  laid  this  command  upon  Bristow 
aad  Wilson,  he  stood  by  it,  although  its  execution 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  such  old-time  friends  as 
McDonald  and  Joyce,  and  resulted  in  the  indictment 
and  prosecution  of  his  own  Private  Secretary,  Gen. 
Babcock.  AVhen  the  Star-Route  frauds  were  brought 
to  the  attention  of  President  Arthur  for  prosecution, 
although  his  personal  friend,  Stephen  W.  Dorsey,  an 
ex-United  States  Senator,  and  Thomas  J.  Brady„ 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


569 


Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  were  implicated, 
he  directed  that  the  prosecution  proceed,  and  the 
names  of  Dorsey  and  Brady  went  down  in  disgrace, 
that  the  public  service  might  be  purified. 

Contrary  to  the  usual  political  methods,  John  C. 
Campbell,  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  State  Central 
Committee,  chose  to  become  personally  responsible  for 
the  utterances  of  the  committee,  and  he  addressed 
an  open  letter,  in  reply  to  that  portion  of  Mr. 
Fifer’s  speech  which  referred  to  the  charges  of  the 
Democratic  State  convention,  in  which  he  called  in 
question  the  truth  of  his  every  statement  regarding 
the  political  control  of  the  House,  and  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  passage  of  the  appropriation  and  levy 
bills.  Said  he: 

“ We  are  told  by  Mr.  Fifer  that  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives  of  the  Thirty -fourth  General  Assembly  was 
controlled  by  the  Democrats.  Now  let  us  see  how 
much  truth  there  is  in  that  statement.  It  is  granted 
by  him  that  the  Senate  was  Republican,  and  I wall 
pass  that  for  the  consideration  of  the  House,  the 
political  complexion  of  which  was,  76  Republicans,  76 
Democrats,  and  1 Independent.  The  House  met  on 
January  7,  with  Secretary  of  State  Decent  in  the 
chair,  and  adjourned  until  11:30  a.  m.  Wednesday, 
the  8th,  when  Mr.  E.  M.  Haines  was  elected  temporary 
Speaker,  over  Mr.  J.  B.  Messick,  by  a vote  of  77  to 
74.  One  Republican  member  voted  for  Mr.  Haines, 
vdiich  secured  his  election.  Without  such  vote  he 
could  not  have  been  elected,  for  he  did  not  and  w^ould 
not  vote  for  himself.  The  two  parties  had  nominated 
their  respective  candidates  for  the  several  offices.  The 
Democrats  selected  Mr.  E.  L.  Cronkrite  for  Speaker, 
and  the  Republicans  Mr.  Charles  E.  Fuller.  But  no 
election  took  place  until  January  29,  notwithstanding 
the  House  balloted  each  day  for  that  purpose.  In  the 
meantime  Mr.  Cronkrite  ceased  to  be  a candidate, 
when  the  Democrats  nominated  Mr.  Haines  in  his 
stead.  On  January  29,  Mr.  Haines  was  elected  Speaker, 
the  vote  standing,  Haines,  78;  Fuller,  74;  Cronkrite, 


570 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


1.  Mr.  Haines’  election  was  secured  by  the  vote  of 
two  Republicans,  Messrs.  Sittig  and  Fuller.  Mr. 
Haines  voted  for  Mr.  Cronkrite. 

“It  is  here  made  plain  that  the  .Republicans  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  organization  of  the  House,  and  more 
especially  in  the  selection  of  Mr.  Haines  as  Speaker. 
If  the  Republicans  had  wanted  to  facilitate  the  business 
of  the  session,  the  same  gentlemen  who  voted  to  make 
Mr.  Haines  temporary  and  permanent  Speaker  could 
have  done  so  by  voting  for  Mr.  Cronkrite. 

“Now  let  us  see  how  far  the  majority  of  the  House 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats.  Mr.  W.  H. 
Weaver,  Republican,  was  sworn  in  the  15th  of  May  as 
Representative  from  the  Thirty-fourth  District  as  the 
successor  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Shaw,  deceased.  This  gave  the 
Republicans,  from  tnat  time  forward,  a majority  of 
one  in  the  House,  the  same  as  they  had  in  the  Senate, 
and  through  this  majority  Gen.  John  A.  Logan  was 
reelected  United  States  Senator.  From  that  very  day, 
notwithstanding  Mr.  Haines  remained  as  the  nominal 
Speaker,  the  Republicans  dominated  the  legislation  of 
the  two  houses  as  completely  as  though  Mr.  Haines 
had  not  been  in  the  chair.  Mr.  Haines  proposed  at 
the  time  Mr.  Weaver  was  sworn  in  to  retire  and  allow 
the  Republicans  to  elect  Mr.  Fuller  Speaker,  but  that 
gentleman  said  no,  and  although  Mr.  Haines  remained 
Speaker  during  the  session,  he  was  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a figure-head  for  the  Republicans.  These  are 
the  facts  as  to  the  control  of  the  House. 

“Now  a word  as  to  the  appropriations.  Fifty-three 
appropriation  bills  became  laws,  forty-one  of  which 
originated  in  the  Senate  and  twelve  in  the  House.  Of 
those  in  the  Senate,  thirty-one  were  introduced  by 
Republicans  and  ten  by  Democrats.  In  the  House, 
seven  were  introduced  by  Democrats  and  five  by 
Republicans.  But  up  to  the  time  the  Republicans  se- 
cured a majority  in  the  House,  which  gave  them  com- 
plete mastership  of  the  legislation  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1885,  there  had  been  passed  and  approved 
but  five  appropriation  bills,  which  aggregated  only 
$42,400  of  the  $7,774,978.54  which  were  appropriated 
during  that  session. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


571 


“I  now  turn  my  attention  to  the  passage  of  the 
levy  bill.  On  the  19th  of  June,  the  Senate  sent  to 
the  House,  Senate  Bill  No.  472,  for  ‘An  act  to  provide 
the  necessary  revenue  for  State  purposes.’  Mr.  Cald- 
well, Democrat,  obtained  unanimous  consent,  and  the 
bill  was  read  at  large  the  first  time  and  ordered  to  a 
second  reading.  June  24,  the  bill  was  again  called  up, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Caldwell.  Mr.  Cronkrite  moved  to 
amend  by  striking  out  in  line  five,  section  one,  the 
words  and  figures  $2,000,000,  and  insert  $1,500,000, 
and  to  strike  out  in  lines  six  and  seven  the  words  and 
figures  $2,000,000,  and  insert,  $1,500,000.  Mr.  Cald- 
well moved  to  lay  the  amendment  on  the  table,  which 
was  lost  by  a vote  of,  yeas,  58 ; nays,  59.  Messrs. 
Castle,  Hamilton,  Hood,  Kinsey,  Morgan  of  Wash- 
ington, Pollock  and  Ruby,  Republicans,  voted  in  the 
negative.  The  question  recurring  on  the  amendment 
of  Mr.  Cronkrite,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken — yeas, 
66;  nays  63.  Messrs.  Baird,  Bogardus,  Chapman, 
Hamilton,  Hood,  Morgan  of  Washington,  Pollock  and 
Yost,  Republicans,  voted  in  the  affirmative.  On  June 
25,  the  bill  passed,  as  amended,  by  a vote  of,  yeas,  103; 
nays,  1.  The  bill  was  returned  to  the  Senate,  June  25, 
for  its  concurrence,  and  was  made  the  special  order 
for  2:30  o’clock,  when  the  Senate  declined  to  concur  by 
a vote  of,  yeas,  6 ; nays,  34.  A committee  of  conference 
was  appointed  by  the  Senate,  consisting  of  L.  B.  Ray, 
Henry  Tubbs  and" E.  Southworth.  On  the  same  day,  the 
House  appointed  a committee  of  conference,  consisting 
of  E.  R.  E.  Kimbrough,  H.  C.  Whittemore  and  D.  S. 
Spafford.  Here  were  four  Republicans  to  two  Demo- 
crats on  this  committee.  The  committee  recommended 
that  the  House  recede  from  the  amendment  in  line 
five  of  section  one,  and  that  the  Senate  concur  in  the 
amendment  in  lines  six  and  seven  of  section  one.  The 
report  of  the  conference  committee  was  concurred  in 
in  the  House  by  a vote  of,  yeas,  124;  nays,  4;  and 
in  the  Senate  by  a vote  of,  yeas,  46;  nays,  0.  This 
reduced  the  levy  bill  just  $500,000  from  what  it  was 
as  it  originally  passed  the  Senate.  Mr.  Cronkrite  did 
not  believe  in  demanding  so  large  a sum  of  money 
from  the  tax  payers,  when  the  Auditor’s  report  for 
1884,  showed  a balance  in  the  treasury  of  the  general 


572 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


revenue  fund  of  $3,127,556.67,  and  the  report  of 
the  same  officer  for  1886,  still  showed  a balance  to 
the  credit  of  the  same  fund  of  $2,663,570.01. 
It  is  therefore  conclusive  to  every  intelligent  mind 
that  there  was  no  necessity  for  a greater  levy  in 
the  bill  of  1887,  than  was  made  in  the  levy  bill  of 
1885.  I leave  the  candid  public  to  weigh  the  state- 
ments made  by  Mr.  Fifer  and  myself,  and  to  judge 
between  us  as  to  wTho  has  told  the  truth  regarding 
the  appropriation  and  levy  bills,  and  as  to  whether 
it  was  the  Democrats  or  Republicans  who  controlled 
the  House,  and  turn  upon  him  his  own  interrogatory : 

4 Should  not  an  individual  be  held  morally  responsible 
for  falsehoods  and  slanders  uttered  in  the  very  face 
of  the  public  records 

Mr.  Campbell  continued  these  open  letters  during 
the  campaign,  but  did  not  elicit  a response  from  any 
quarter  until  he  assailed  the  conduct  of  the  State 
Charitable  Institutions,  charging  that  it  cost  more  to 
pay  the  office-holders  and  employes  of  the  several 
institutions  than  it  did  to  feed  the  inmates.  This 
aroused  the  anxiety  of  Gen.  Martin,  Chairman  of  the 
Republican  State  Central  Committee,  and  he  called 
upon  Rev.  Fred.  H.  Wines,  Secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Public  Charities,  to  refute  the  charges,  and 
on  the  8th  of  October,  Mr.  Wines  came  out  with  a 
circular  justifying  the  management  of  the  institutions, 
and  defiantly  challenging  the  truth  of  Mr.  Campbelhs 
allegations,  but,  unreasonable  as  it  may  seem,  he  ad- 
mitted that  it  cost  $668,220.23  to  pay  the  officers 
and  employes  of  the  several  institutions  for  the  fiscal 
years  of  1885  and  1886,  while  the  6,000  inmates  had 
been  fed  for  the  same  period  for  $489,840.31.  These 
figures  were  taken  by  Mr.  Campbell  as  the  basis  for  a 
renewal  of  the  charges,  which  he  reiterated  with  ten- 
fold vigor,  but  Mr.  Wines  made  no  further  reply.  The 
National  campaign  was  lost  sight  of  by  Mr.  Campbell, 
and  he  addressed  himself  apparently  in  the  interest  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


573 


those  who  pay  the  taxes  which  support  government, 
and  while  his  charges  often  gave  great  offense  to  his 
opponents,  yet  he  seemed  willing  to  stand  or  fall  by 
them. 

The  criticisms  within  and  without  party  lines,  during 
the  campaign,  as  to  the  extravagance  of  the  State 
government,  made  its  impress,  for  when  the  Legisla- 
ture met  an  effort  was  at  once  instituted  to  limit  its 
expenditures.  So  it  was  with  political  management. 
The  Senate  organized  without  intrigue.  Mr.  Theo.  S. 
Chapman,  a popular  and  capable  man,  was  elected 
President  pro  tern.,  as  the  free  will  of  the  majority. 
In  the  House,  Col.  A.  C.  Matthews,  distinguished  as 
a soldier  and  civilian,  was  chosen  Speaker  in  like 
manner.  It  had  been  announced  long  before  the 
assembling  of  the  body  that  he  was  a candidate,  and 
although  there  were  three  other  names  mentioned,  the 
popular  tide  was  so  strong  in  his  favor  that  when  the 
time  came  for  the  caucus  to  name  a candidate  no  one 
stood  out  against  him,  and  he  was  nominated  by 
acclamation.  The  effect  then  of  public  sentiment  in 
the  State  upon  both  these  matters  was  for  the  good 
of  the  whole  people. 

But  recurring  to  the  tendency  of  organized  politics, 
a retrospective  view  will  show  that  the  masses  of  a 
party  tire  of  the  methods  of  the  caucus.  In  1868, 
Gen.  John  M.  Palmer  carried  the  State  over  his  Dem- 
ocratic competitor  by  a majority  of  50,099.  The 
aggregate  vote  of  the  respective  candidates  was, 
Palmer,  249,912;  Eden,  199,813.  Total,  449,725. 
In  1888,  Fifer’s  plurality  over  Palmer  was  12,547. 
The  aggregate  vote  of  each  was,  Fifer,  367,860; 
Palmer,  355,313.  Total,  723,173.  These  figures  show 
an  increase  in  the  vote  of  the  two  parties  of  273,448 
for  governor  over  that  of  1868.  Harrison’s  plurality 
in  the  State  over  Cleveland  was  22,104,  and  Palmer’s 


574 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


6,942.  Evidently  there  was  not  that  zeal  in  the 
Republican  party  that  existed  when  Illinois  was  given 
to  Lincoln  and  Yates  in  1860. 

There  was  much  disappointment  at  the  result  of 
the  election.  The  Democrats  fondly  hoped  to  carry 
the  State  for  Palmer,  while  the  most  zealous  friends 
of  Fifer  believed  he  would  be  elected  by  a plurality  of 
30,000,  but  when  it  became  known  that  he  had  polled 
fewer  votes  than  Harrison,  and  run  behind  his  asso- 
ciates, then  it  was  that  reasons  were  sought  to 
account  for  the  result,  and  among  others  it  was 
claimed  that  the  Anarchists  had  voted  for  Palmer, 
but  when  the  vote  of  Cook  County  was  fully  canvassed, 
it  became  evident  that  such  was  not  the  case.  Har- 
rison only  carried  the  county  over  Cleveland  by  a 
majority  of  804,  while  Mr  Lifer’s  associates  carried 
it  by  majorities  over  their  respective  Democratic  com- 
petitors of  from  2,021  to  3,871.  Mr.  Hunt,  who  had 
prosecuted  the  condemned  Anarchists  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  received  a majority  of  3,293  over  Mr.  Creighton, 
his  Democratic  competitor,  which  demonstrates  that 
the  Anarchists  do  not  depend  upon  the  ballot  as  a 
means  of  redress  for  real  or  imaginary  wrongs.  So 
far  as  Palmer’s  vote  in  Cook  County  is  concerned,  his 
most  intelligent  friends  attribute  his  victory  in  that 
county  to  his  speech  at  Battery  D,  which  was  devoted 
to  a review  of  his  acts  as  Governor,  at  the  time 
Chicago  was  laid  in  ashes.  That  meeting  is  said  to 
have  been  the  largest  and  most  intelligent  that  greeted 
him  during  the  entire  campaign,  and  his  unreserved 
discussion  of  all  the  matters  connected  with  that 
memorable  period,  won  for  him  many  new  admirers 
in  that  great  city,  who  had  never  before  really  under- 
stood the  facts  regarding  the  conflict  between  Gen. 
Sheridan  and  the  Governor,  which  occurred  after  the 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


575 


fire,  and  that  this  important  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  State  may  not  be  lost,  sight  of,  we  devote  a 
chapter  to  the  subject. 

But  so  far  as  Mr.  Fifer’s  vote  in  Cook  county  or  in 
the  entire  State  is  concerned,  men  whose  minds  are 
not  warped  by  prejudice  or  hate,  accept  his  election 
as  a triumph.  Having  for  a competitor  a man  who 
w7as  accepted  as  the  most  distinguished  representative 
of  his  party,  a great  lawyer  and  a soldier,  who  had  won 
the  commission  of  Major-General  in  the  United  States 
Army  w7hile  serving  his  country  in  the  tented  field, 
and  to  whose  administration  as  Governor  of  the  State, 
he  had  invited  the  criticism  of  friends  and  foes  alike, 
it  was  not  strange  that  Mr.  Fifer  should  have  run 
behind  his  ticket. 

Mr.  Fifer,  like  Col.  Bissell,  in  1856,  was  not  physi- 
cally able  to  make  the  canvass  expected  of  a candidate 
heading  his  party  ticket,  but  he  placed  himself  in  the 
hands  of  the  State  Central  Committee,  and  wTent 
whenever  and  wherever  his  party  called  him,  and  he 
sustained  himself  with  an  ability  that  surprised  his 
adversaries  and  challengedthe  admiration  of  his  friends. 


Democratic  State  Convention. 

The  Democrats  were  the  last  to  make  their  State 
nominations,  and  they  naturally  took  advantage  of 
every  mistake  the  Republican  party  made.  In  1880, 
the  last  of  the  State  debt  had  been  paid  off,  and  it 
was  widely  predicted  by  Republican  officials  that  when 
this  debt  became  ext  inct  the  burden  of  State  taxation 
would  be  a thing  of  the  past,  but  eight  years  had 
elapsed  since  that  time,  and  instead  of  a reduction  in 
the  State  tax,  there  was  a gradual  increase,  therefore, 
the  Democrats  arraigned  the  Republican  party  for 
gross  extravagance  in  the  State  administration,  charg- 


576 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ii>g  that  there  had  not  been  that  care  and  scrutiny, 
in  the  disbursement  of  the  public  money,  that  ought 
to  be  observed  by  men  bound  by  an  oath  to  see  that 
the  laws  are  faithfully  administered,  and  that  the 
public  revenue  is  honestly  disbursed. 

There  were  four  names  presented  to  the  convention 
for  Governor,  namely,  John  M.  Palmer,  Andrew  J. 
Bell,  Henry  Seiter  and  W.  A.  J.  Sparks.  Palmer  was 
esteemed  as  the  most  distinguished  representative  of 
his  party,  and  had  served  more  than  five  years  as  a 
soldier  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  having  been  mustered 
into  the  service  as  Colonel  of  the  Fourteenth  Illinois 
Infantry,  May  25,  1861,  and  mustered  out,  October 
1,  1866,  by  reason  of  his  resignation.  His  nomina- 
tion was  consummated  before  the  announcement  of 
the  result  of  the  first  roll-call.  A.  J.  Bell  was  nom- 
inated for  Lieutenant-Governor,  N.  D.  Ricks  for  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Andrew  Welch  for  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts,  Charles  H.  Wacker*  for  Treasurer  and 
Jacob  R.  Creighton  for  Attorney-General. 

When  the  nominations  were  concluded,  Gen.  Palmer 
w^as  presented  to  the  convention,  and  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:— 
My  days  of  office-seeking  for  the  gratification  of  am- 
bition are  over.  I owe  services  to  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  State  and  to  the  people,  and  to  them  I 
am  willing  and  anxious  to  be  useful.  Without  preface, 
therefore,  I gratefully  accept  the  nomination  conferred 
upon  me,  and  I will  exert  my  best  efforts  to  give  your 
whole  ticket  success.  I do  not  suppose  that  you  have 
nominated  me  for  the  Presidency.  I suppose  you  are  sat- 
isfied with  the  man  who  was  nominated  four  years 
ago,  when  the  Democratic  party  vindicated  its  wisdom 
by  placing  in  nomination  for  the  Presidency  its  pre- 
sent incumbent,  one  of  the  most  sensible,  practical, 
earnest,  patriotic  men  of  the  age.  Nor  do  I suppose 
that  you  have  nominated  me  for  the  Senate  of  the 

*Wacker  declined  the  nomination,  and  Francis  A.  Hoffman,  Jr.  was  se- 
lected by  the  State  Central  Committee,  to  fill  the  vacancy. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


577 


United  States.  I suppose  that  you  believe,  and  I know 
“that  you  know  that  I believe,  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  is  a binding  obligation.  And 
when  that  Constitution  declares  that  the  Governor  of 
the  State  shall  not  be  eligible  for  any  office  during  the 
term  for  which  he  was  elected,  and  he  takes  an  oath 
to  support  that  Constitution,  you  expect  it  to  be 
obeyed.  When  I had  the  honor  to  be  Governor  of 
this  State  years  ago,  I said  that  I was  the  independent 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  I asked  nothing  of 
the  Legislature.  I asked  them  to  do  their  duty  to  the 
people  and  I would  do  mine.  If  I shall  be  elected  Gov- 
ernor again  I will  again  be  the  independent  Governor 
of  the  State  of  Illinois.  And  I will  ask  no  favors  of 
anybody.  I gave  four  honest  years  of  service  before, 
and  I will  do  so  again  if  the  people  of  this  State  shall 
honor  me  with  their  confidence;  and,  gentlemen  of  the 
convention,  let  me  say  to  you  that  the  time  has  come 
when  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  be  con- 
sidered in  our  political  canvasses.  We  have  devoted 
years  to  the  making  of  Presidents.  Now,  Illinois  must 
have  some  friends,  and  we  must  now  appeal  to  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  to  look  after  their  own 
interests,  and  inquire  why  things  are  as  they  are  to- 
day. We  must  inquire  why  it  is  that  taxation  lias 
increased  and  is  increasing.  They  must  be  told  why 
it  is.  They  must  be  asked  why  it  is  that  the  State 
has  become  an  object  of  such  contempt  that  standing 
armies  are  raised  in  its  midst  to  furnish  mercenaries 
to  Pennsylvania  and  Iowa — wherever  and  under  what 
authority  they  act;  how  it  is  that  private  men  may 
organize  soldiers  in  the  State,  hirelings  to  go  with 
their  Winchesters  and  overawe  the  people.  If  I am 
elected  Governor,  the  people  of  this  State  shall  have  a 
firm  government  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  me;  as  firm 
as  the  law — no  firmer;  as  weak  as  the  law  and  no 
wreaker.  The  government  of  the  State  of  Illinois  shall 
not,  under  my  administration,  if  I am  elected,  tempt 
by  its  feebleness  weak  men  to  crime,  and  then  hang 
them  for  it;  and  men  shall  be  told  that  the  laws  are 
supreme;  that  the.  law  will  furnish  redress  for  every 
wrong;  that  the  law  deserves  their  respect,  and  that 
37 


578 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  State  of  Illinois  deserves  obedience  to  its  legisla- 
tion. The  interests  of  the  people  of  Illinois  have  been 
disregarded.  We  have  been  but  a mere  electoral  dis- 
trict. The  Governors  of  the  State  have  only  regarded 
this  honorable  place  to  which  you  have  nominated  me 
as  a stepping-stone  to  other  places.  They  have  filled 
up  all  the  State  boards — penal,  reformatory,  educa- 
tional, and  benevolent — with  rings  that  are  members 
of  the  Legislature,  and  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  turn  make  Senators  of  the  Governors.  That 
must  be  stopped.  Gentlemen  of  the  convention,  if  I 
shall  have  the  strength  to  make  the  canvass  of  this 
State  this  year,  I will  leave  the  making  of  Presidents 
to  those  to  whom  you  have  assigned  that  duty.  I 
will  endeavor  to  talk  to  the  people  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  about  Illinois — God  bless  her.  I love  her.  Her 
people  are  worthy  of  the  best  services  of  the  best  men 
everywhere,  and  if  I shall  be  elected  Governor,  the  State 
of  Illinois  shall  have  the  benefit  of  earnest,  sincere 
service  devoted  to  its  interests.  Let  Cleveland  run  the 
National  government  ; that  is  his  business.  He  won't 
need  my  help,  and,  as  you  recollect  a little  incident 
in  my  experience  some  years  ago,  I shall  not  need  his. 
Gentlemen  of  the  convention,  I promise  you  fair, 
earnest,  honest  service  during  this  canvass.  I want  to 
see  the  canvass  conducted  in  Illinois  upon  plain, 
square,  practical  issues;  that  there  shall  be  no  dodg- 
ing anywhere;  that  when  we  point  out  the  extrava- 
gance or  the  negligence  of  Republican  administration, 
we  shall  not  be  answered  by  hired  bands  singing 
‘Marching  Through  Georgia.5  I shall  tell  the  people 
what  the  people  have  a right  to  know,  and  it  will 
be  no  answer  that  they  shall  talk  to  us  about  the 
beauties  of  protection  and  the  advantages  of  shackling 
commerce  that  the  rich  may  grow  richer  and  the  poor 
may  grow  poorer.  Gentlemen,  I am  done.55 

The  occasion  evidently  inspired  this  speech,  and 
again  and  again  Gen.  Palmer  was  cheered  in  a man- 
ner that  made  the  great  hall  ring  long  and  loud  with 
his  praise,  for  this  was  the  first  occasion  where  a 
Democrat  or  Republican  had  dared  to  denounce  the 
spoils  system  of  politics,  or  to  speak  plainly  regard- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


579' 


ing  the  conduct  of  public  servants.  He  had  seen  two 
Governors  elevated  to  the  United  States  Senate  while 
holding  the  office  of  Governor,  in  contravention  of 
Article  Y,  Section  5 of  the  Constitution  of  1870,  which 
is  in  these  words: 

‘•Neither  the  Governor, Lieutenant-Governor,  Auditor 
of  Public  Accounts,  Secretary  of  State,  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  nor  Attorney-General,  shall  be 
eligible  to  any  other  office  during  the  period  for  which 
he  shall  have  been  elected.” 

The  riot  at  East  St.  Louis,  on  the  9th  of  April, 
1886,  in  which  eight  persons  were  shot  dead,  and  the 
Haymarket  tragedy  at  Chicago,  May  4,  of  the  same 
year,  were  evidently  still  fresh  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker  when  he  gave  utterance  to  the  words,  “If  I 
am  elected  Governor,  the  people  of  this  State  shall 
have  a firm  government  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  me ; 
as  firm  as  the  law — no  firmer;  as  weak  as  the  law 
and  no  weaker.” 


Gen.  Palmer  made  his  opening  speech  of  the  cam- 
paign at  the  opera  house,  in  Springfield,  the  latter 
part  of  June,  in  which  he  elaborated  the  ideas  he  gave 
vent  to  at  the  time  of  his  nomination,  and  there 
rested  his  cause  until  the  State  Central  Committee 
had  formulated  a series  of  appointments.  But  in  the 
meantime,  his  adversaries  were  not  idle.  His  administra- 
tion while  Governor  was  critically  reviewed,  and  every 
supposable  weak  point  brought  to  the  surface,  and  he 
thus  became  the  subject  of  universal  attack,  and 
official  reports  of  the  State  were  quoted  in  order  to 
make  the  assaults  the  more  effective.  The  fact  that 
he  had  once  been  a Republican,  was  urged  as  a reason 
why  pu > Republican  should  vote  for  him . He  was  ac- 
cused of  courting  the  influence  of  the  anarchists,  and 
an  anonymous  circular  to  this  effect  was  spread 


•580 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


broad-cast.  His  controversy  with  Gen.  Sheridan,  at 
the  time  of  the  Chicago  fire,  was  revived.  He  was 
charged  with  resigning  his  command  in  the  army  in 
front  of  the  enemy,  and  Sherman’s  Memoirs  were 
cited  to  prove  the  charge.  Gen.  Palmer  bore  these 
assaults  with  good  grace.  In  his  opera  house  speech, 
he  had  anticipated  his  enemies  by  saying  that  his 
career  in  public  life  had  been  long  and  varied,  and  he 
expected  to  have  a great  deal  to  say  in  regard  to 
himself  before  the  close  of  the  campaign,  and  when  the 
committee  had  arranged  a list  of  appointments,  he 
entered  upon  the  canvass  with  a vigor  that  marked 
him  as  a man  capable  of  meeting  any  emergency.  He 
held  that  his  administration  was  an  open  book,  that 
he  had  committed  no  act  while  Governor  of  which  he 
was  ashamed ; he  concealed  nothing,  and  gave  a reason 
for  every  official  act  while  he  was  the  Executive,  which 
had  been  made  a subject  of  the  campaign.  Some  of 
his  adversaries,  in  their  public  speeches,  not  infrequently 
advised  the  soldiers  to  vote  as  they  shot,  and  there 
was  perhaps  no  unkind  word  written  or  spoken  of 
him  during  the  heated  contest  that  so  touched  his 
manly  pride,  as  did  the  attempt  to  cast  odium  upon 
his  name  as  a soldier,  and  when  the  campaign  was 
over,  he  resigned  his  membership  in  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Kepublic,  as  an  evidence  of  the  displeasure  he  felt 
toward  those  of  his  comrades  who  had  allowed  polit- 
ical prejudice  to  call  in  question  his  acts  as  a soldier. 

The  canvass  of  the  State  by  Gen.  Palmer  was  re- 
garded as  the  most  illustrious  since  that  between 
Douglas  and  Lincoln,  in  1858.  He  spoke,  not  in- 
frequently, to  10,000  people,  sometimes  in  the  scorch- 
ing sun,  sometimes  in  the  pattering  rain,  sometimes 
by  the  dim  light  of  the  torch,  but  always  with  a 
power  and  clearness  upon  the  questions  of  the  hour, 
that  arrested  the  attention  of  the  whole  country,  and 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


581 


those  nearest  him,  who  felt  the  public  pulse  as  he 
mingled  with  the  masses,  assumed  that  but  for  the  ever 
pressing  influence  of  the  National  campaign,  he  would 
have  been  elected. 


The  campaign  of  1888  w7as  one  of  many  vicissitudes. 
President  Cleveland  had,  in  his  annual  message  in 
December,  1887,  addressed  himself  wholly  to  the  ques- 
tion of  reducing  the  tariff,  with  the  view  of  a reduc- 
tion of  the  surplus  in  the  treasury.  The  message  re- 
ceived the  general  approval  of  his  party  at  the  time, 
and  afterward  in  National  convention.  Many  leading 
Republicans  throughout  the  country  also  endorsed  it, 
and  the  Chicago  Tribune,  the  most  widely  read  Repub- 
lican journal  in  the  Northwest,  gave  it  an  unqualified 
approval.  This  threw  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  into 
some  confusion,  and  for  a time  it  looked  as  though 
the  party  would  be  wrecked  on  the  issue,  but  the  more 
dogmatic  were  in  favor  of  a protective  tariff,  and  they 
determined  to  maintain  that  line,  and  to  force  the 
Tribune  into  the  support  of  the  their  position  or  drive 
it  from  the  leadership  of  the  party.  The  Tribune, 
however,  was  strong  in  its  convictions,  and  while  it 
was  unwilling  to  be  forced  into  the  support  of  views 
which  it  did  not  believe  were  for  the  best  interests  of 
the  country,  yet  it  was  unwilling  to  be  classed  as  a 
Democrat,  and  therefore  stood  firm.  When  the  Repub- 
lican National  Convention  met  at  Chicago,  and  nom- 
inated Harrison  and  Morton  for  President  and  Vice- 
President,  adopting  a platform,  which  declared  in  no 
doubtful  language  in  favor  of  protection,  the  Tribune 
pronounced  against  the  platform  but  loyally  sup- 
ported the  nominees  of  the  convention.  Mr.  Blaine, 
who  was  then  abroad,  had  given  utterance,  in  an  in- 
terview, to  views  which  were  antagonistic,  in  some  re- 
spects, to  the  platform,  and  on  his  return  home  em- 


582 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


phasized  them  by  making  a speech  in  harmony  with 
the  views  expressed  in  his  interview.  Later,  the  Repub- 
licans in  the  United  States  Senate  formulated  a bill, 
which  antagonized  the  platform  equally  as  much  as 
did  the  editorials  of  the  Tribune,  or  the  speech  of  Mr. 
Blaine,  which  left  the  question,  so  far  as  it  related  to 
the  Republican  party,  with  many  sides.  The  Tribune 
never  supported  the  tariff  plank,  but  criticised  and 
condemned  it  as  erroneous  and  wrong  in  principle,  and 
at  variance  with  the  past  record  of  the  party  as  set 
forth  in  its  previous  platforms,  and  in  the  teachings 
of  its  leading  statesmen,  such  as  Garfield,  Sherman, 
Allison,  Grant  and  Arthur.  But  it  opposed  the  Mills 
Bill  as  being  unfair  and  sectional  in  its  provisions, 
and  endorsed  the  Senate  Bill  as  a fairer  and  better 
means  of  arriving  at  a proper  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion. Mr.  Blaine  took  the  leading  part  in  the  cam- 
paign, and  though  he  spoke  in  many  States  in  the 
East  and  West,  yet  he  spoke  independently  of  the 
platform,  preferring  to  represent  his  own  views  rather 
than  accept  those  of  the  party  as  promulgated  by  the 
National  convention.  The  letter  of  acceptance  of  Mr. 
Harrison  and  his  speeches  during  the  campaign  were 
calculated  to  relax  the  language  of  the  platform,  yet 
the  battle  was  really  fought  by  the  Republicans,  as 
against  the  Democrats,  upon  the  question  of  protec- 
tion as  against  free  trade,  notwithstanding  the  Dem- 
ocrats stoutly  maintained  that  the  policy  of  the  party 
was  contrary  to  free  trade.  But  the  result  of  the 
election  showed  that  the  people  of  the  manufacturing 
districts  of  the  country  did  not  antagonize  Cleveland 
on  this  account,  for  although  he  lost  New  York  and 
Indiana,  yet  he  carried  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut, 
both  largely  interested  in  manufacturing  industries. 
In  the  agricultural  sections  of  the  country  the  Repub- 
lican vote  was  largest,  while  in  the  business  centers 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  583 

the  Democrats  carried  the  day  by  increased  majori- 
ties, which  shows  that  the  skilled  labor  of  the  country 
did  not- wholly  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  protection, 
and  yet  the  farmers,  who  had  declared  in  their  insti- 
tute assemblies  in  favor  of  tariff  reform  even  before 
the  promulgation  of  the  President’s  message,  may 
have  concluded  pfter  all  that  there  was  something  in 
the  theory  of  a home  market  for  the  products  of  the 
field.  Illustrative  of  this  fact,  we  will  remark  that  in 
1884,  Blaine  had  a majority  over  Cleveland  in  Cook 
County  of  8,618,  while  he  went  into  Chicago  with  but 
14,209  majority,  making  a total  of  24,827.  Harrison 
went  into  Chicago  with  a majority  over  Cleveland  of 
21,300,  while  in  Cook  County  his  majority  was  only 
804,  being  7,814  less  than  was  Blaine’s  over  Cleveland. 

In  Illinois,  there  was  particularly  great  confusion 
upon  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  and  there  were  many 
changes  from  one  party  to  another.  We  call  to  mind, 
K.  R.  Cable,  Democrat,  President  and  General  Mana- 
ger of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Railway, 
who  renounced  the  cause  of  Cleveland  and  supported 
Harrison;  ex-State  Senator  L.  D.  Whiting,  who  had 
been  a Republican  from  the  birth  of  the  party,  but 
never  a protectionist,  favoring  a tariff  for  revenue 
only,  supported  Cleveland;  Charles  Ridgely,  President 
of  the  Springfield  Iron  Company,  who  was  the  Dem- 
ocratic candidate  for  State  Treasurer  in  1870,  re- 
nounced his  allegiance  to  the  Democratic  party,  in  a 
public  speech,  and  allied  himself  with  the  Republican 
party;  ex-Representativc  A.  D.  Pierce,  whose  Repub- 
licanism had  before  been  unfaltering,  declared  himself 
as  being  opposed  to  the  protective  system,  and  can- 
vassed Southern  Illinois  in  behalf  of  the  success  of  the 
Democratic  State  and  National  tickets.  We  might  con- 
tinue this  list  much  farther,  but  this  will  suffice  to 
show  that  the  political  changes,  as  a rule,  were  not 


584 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


made  for  mercenary  purposes,  but  that  men  of  high 
character,  everywhere,  in  every  walk  of  life,  changed 
their  political  affiliations  from  motives  of  principle. 

But,  after  all,  it  was  not  the  tariff  issue  that  de- 
feated Mr.  Cleveland.  Although  twenty-three  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  war  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union,  there  was  a latent  feeling  in  the 
North,  which  was  not  confined  to  the  Republican 
party,  that  the  control  of  the  government,  under  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  had  mistakenly 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  men  who,  twTenty-seven 
years  before,  had  sought  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Union,  and  that  until  this  order  of  things  was 
changed  the  solid  South  would  be  continued  against 
a divided  North,  and  consequently  there  could  not  be 
that  fraternity  of  feeling  that  should  exist  between 
the  respective  sections.  Besides  this,  the  reflecting 
people  of  the  South,  the  men  who  wore  the  gray,  and 
who  accepted  in  good  faith  the  terms  of  Grant  at 
Appomattox,  had  grown  restive  under  the  continuous 
clamor  of  demagogues  about  the  solid  South,  and 
they  stood  ready  to  break  it  themselves.  Illustrative 
of  this,  we  refer  to  the  vote  of  Missouri  in  the  guber- 
natorial canvass,  the  Republican  increase  in  her  rep- 
resentation in  Congress;  the  vote  in  West  Virginia, 
Virginia  and  Delaware,  and  the  election  of  a Republi- 
can United  States  Senator  in  the  latter  State,  this 
being  the  first  Republican  Senator  elected  in  that  State. 
The  reason,  then,  is  obvious,  for  the  return  of  the 
people  to  Republican  rule,  and  if  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Harrison  shall  be  wise  as  to  the  government 
of  the  South,  as  it  is  believed  it  will  be,  we  shall  again 
have  a united  and  happy  country  in  fact,  as  well  as 
in  name. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


585 


The  campaign,  in  Illinois,  was  of  such  a nature  as 
to  suggest  the  question,  are  we  not  fast  becoming  a 
nation  of  politicians?  For  months,  the  people  did 
little  else  than  talk  politics  and  attend  political  dem- 
onstrations. The  log  cabin  and  coon,  of  1840,  were 
revived,  and  in  many  Republican  processions  were 
scores  of  old  men  who  had  voted  for  the  grandfather 
of  Gen.  Harrison,  in  1836,  and  again  in  1840.  In 
either  party  every  conceivable  style  of  uniform  and 
transparency  was  instituted,  and  women,  black  and 
white,  were  often  seen  in  the  marching  column,  some- 
times on  horseback  and  sometimes  on  foot,  carrying 
the  flaming  torch,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to 
see  10,000  people  gathered  together  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, to  hear  the  questions  of  the  hour  discussed  by 
the  respective  party  champions. 

Although  the  Prohibition  vote  was  even  less  in  the 
State  than  was  expected  by  the  most  conservative 
advocate  of  the  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic  as  a 
beverage,  yet  it  was  21,703  as  against  10,854,  in 
1884,  which  signifies  a strong  and  growing  sentiment 
in  favor  of  more  radical  laws  upon  the  subject,  but 
whether  it  shall  result  in  the  utter  overthrow  of  the 
saloon  system  or  not  is  a question  as  difficult  of  so- 
lution as  was  the  abolition  of  slavery,  at  the  time  of 
the  Boston  broadcloth  mob,  in  October,  1835 — so- 
called  because  it  was  instigated  and  led  by  men  of 
high  standing — broke  up  an  anti-slavery  meeting,  and 
dragged  William  Lloyd  Garrison  through  the  streets 
of  that  city  with  a rope  around  his  neck,  or,  in  1839, 
when  Wendell  Phillips,  the  great  anti-slavery  orator, 
renounced  the  profession  of  law,  because  he  would  not 
hold  himself  bound  by  an  oath  to  support  a consti- 
tution which  protected  the  institution  of  slavery.  The 
question  of  prohibition  is  regarded  by  its  foremost 
advocates  as  one  of  greater  importance  than  was  even 


586 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  slavery  question,  for  they  hold  that  it  addresses 
itself  to  every  home  in  this  broad  land,  and  that  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  the  present  generation  are 
seriously  considering  the  question  as  to  whether  the 
children  of  their  children  are  to  be  made  to  support 
the  many  thousand  saloons,  which  now  exist  in  Illinois, 
from  the  daily  earnings  of  almost  every  occupation 
of  life,  and  whose  victims  fill  our  alms-houses,  our 
asylums,  our  penitentiaries,  or  end  their  days  on  the 
gallows.  But  it  was  a cross  to  bear  in  the  last  cam- 
paign for  the  sincere  Prohibitionist,  if  he  had  been  a 
Democrat,  to  be  told  that  he  was  a renegade-,  and 
that  he  was  simply  a tail  to  the  Republican  kite,  or, 
if  of  former  Republican  affiliations,  to  be  taunted  with 
the  discourteous  suggestion,  that  he  was  simply  an 
annex  to  the  Democratic  cause.  This  course  evidently 
lost  the  prohibition  cause  many  thousand  votes  from 
either  party  in  the  State,  and  shows  how  potent  the 
party  lash  may  be  when  systematically  applied,  but 
like  the  slavery  question,  the  opposition  to  the  liquor 
traffic  will  not  end  until  one  or  the  other  of  the  great 
parties  has  taken  the  subject  in  hand  and  given  it 
that  attention  its  gravity  demands,  or  until  a new 
party  shall  have  been  formed  out  of  the  material  of 
the  present  organizations,  as  was  the  case  in  1856. 

Illinois  took  a very  prominent  part  in  that  Avork. 
A State  convention  was  held  at  Bloomington,  May 
29,  of  that  year,  which  was  composed  alike  of  Whigs, 
Democrats  and  Americans.  No  thought  of  a disturb- 
ance of  slavery,  in  the  States  where  it  existed,  was  en- 
tertained, but  it  was  held  in  their  platform,  which  was 
revised  by  Lincoln,  that  under  the  constitution,  Con- 
gress possessed  the  power  to  prohibit  it  in  the  Terri- 
tories, and  while  acknowledging  all  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  South,  they  held  that  justice  and 
humanity  required  that  that  power  should  be  exer- 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


587 


cisecl  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery  into  Terri- 
tories then  free  from  the  institution.  They  expressed 
themselves,  also,  as  unalterably  devoted  to  the  Union, 
and  with  a purpose  to  defend  it  against  all  efforts  to 
overthrow  it.  Illinois  simply  anticipated  the  action 
of  the  National  Republican  Convention,  which  assem- 
bled at  Philadelphia,  June  17,  1856,  and  nominated 
John  C.  Fremont  for  President.  That  body  merely 
reiterated  and  emphasized  what  had  been  expressed  in 
the  platform  of  the  Bloomington  convention,  which 
was  presided  over  by  John  M.  Palmer,  with  Abraham 
Lincoln,  0.  H.  Browning,  Owen  Lovejoy  and  John 
Wentworth  as  advocates  upon  the  floor.  For  thirty 
years  the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  country  had  been 
warring  against  the  extension  of  slavery,  but  they 
only  arrived  at  practical  ideas  in  1856.  But  in  1860, 
the  National  Republican  Convention  was  held  in  Chi- 
cago, with  great  accessions  of  leading  men  from  all 
political  parties.  This  time  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not 
a floor  manager,  but  his  friends  were  pressing  his 
name  for  President.  The  delegates  from  New  York 
supported  Wm.  H.  Seward,  and  recognizing  that  Lin- 
coln was  a dangerous  adversary,  said  to  the  Illinois 
delegation  give  Seward  the  first  place  and  we  will 
accord  you  the  second.  But  Illinois  said  through 
John  M.  Palmer,  who  was  made  the  spokesman  on 
the  occasion,  “We  come  together,  not  as  Whigs,  not 
as  Democrats,  not  as  Americans,  but  as  members  of 
all  political  parties  with  a purpose  to  stay  the  spread 
of  slavery  and  yet  preserve  the  Union.  It  will  not  do 
to  select  two  former  Whigs  as  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President  and  hope  for  success.  We  will 
name  a Whig  for  the  first  place  on  the  ticket  and 
you  a Democrat  for  the  second,  and  we  have  40,000 
Democrats  at  our  command  in  Illinois  whose  votes 
we  will  give  you  on  election  day,”  and  the  result  was 


588 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  President  and 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  an  original  Democrat, 
for  Vice-President,  and  Illinois  cast  her  electoral  vote 
for  the  first  time  in  her  history  against  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  for  the  Republican  party. 

But  returning  to  the  question  of  prohibition,  its  his- 
tory thus  far  has  been  similar  to  the  early  struggle 
of  the  anti-slavery  men,  except  that  its  labors  are 
under  different  auspices,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
All  of  the  decisions  of  this  Court  were  adverse  to  the 
principles  of  the  anti-slavery  men,  famous  among 
which  was  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  promulgated  as 
late  as  December  1,  1856,  which  declared  that  a negro 
possessed  no  civil  rights  under  the  laws  of  the  land. 
But  on  the  contrary,  this  Court  has  already  estab- 
lished the  doctrine  that  States  have  the  right  to  pro- 
hibit the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirituous  liquors. 
In  the  license  cases,  5 Howard,  504,  decided  in  1847, 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  who  delivered  the  opinion,  said: 
“If  any  State  deems  the  retail  and  internal  traffic  in 
ardent  spirits  injurious  to  its  citizens,  and  calculated 
to  produce  idleness,  vice  or  debauchery,  I see  nothing 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  prevent  it 
from  regulating  and  restraining  the  traffic,  or  from 
prohibiting  it  altogether,  if  it  thinks  proper. 55  The 
constitutionality  of  prohibitory  laws  thus  early  an- 
nounced has  been  reaffirmed  by  the  Court  in  the  follow- 
ing opinions:  Bartemeyer  v.  Iowa , 18  Wallace,  129, 
rendered  1873;  Boston  Beer  Co.  v.  Massachusetts , 7 
Otto,  25,  rendered  May  13,  1878;  Foster  v.  State  of 
Kansas , 112  U.  S.  206,  rendered  November  10,  1884; 
Mugler  v.  State  of  Kansas , rendered  December  5,  1887; 
Bowman  v.  C.  and  N.  TV.  By.  Co .,  rendered  March  19, 
1888;  Kidd  v.  Pearson  et  al .,  rendered  October  22, 
1888.  In  Bowman  v.  C.  and  N.  TV.  By.  Co.,  the  Court 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  589 

decided  unconstitutional  the  provision  of  the  Iowa 
law,  which  prohibits  railroads  from  shipping  intoxi- 
cating liquors  into  the  State  from  other  States,  on  the 
ground  that  Congress  has  the  exclusive  control  over 
inter-state  commerce.  The  other  features  of  the  law 
were  sustained.  But  a later  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Iowa  liquor  cases 
seems  to  have  settled  the  last  point  of  conflict  between 
the  police  power  of  the  State  and  the  general  govern- 
ment to  regulate  inter-state  commerce.  The  decision 
is,  that  though  the  State  cannot  prevent  the  impor- 
tation of  unbroken  packages  of  liquor,  yet  it  can 
prevent  its  sale,  either  in  broken  or  unbroken  pack- 
ages, after  it  has  been  imported.  The  opinion  in  Kidd 
v.  Pearson  was  written  by  Justice  Lamar,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  said:  “In  the  case  of  Mugler  v. 
Kansas,  wherein  the  very  question  was  raised,  the 
Court  decided  that  a State  has  the  right  to  prohibit 
or  restrict  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquors 
within  her  limits;  to  prohibit  all  sale  and  traffic  in 
them  in  said  State;  to  inflict  penalties  for  such  man- 
ufacture and  sale,  and  to  provide  regulations  for  the 
abatement  as  a common  nuisance  of  the  property  used 
for  such  forbidden  purposes,  and  that  such  legislation 
by  a State  is  a clear  exercise  of  her  undisputed  police 
power,  which  does  not  abridge  the  liberties  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States.”  This  opinion  holds 
also  that  it  is  constitutional  to  prohibit  the  manufac- 
ture of  intoxicating  liquors,  even  for  the  purpose  of 
exportation.  These  opinions  are  regarded  by  the  men 
and  women,  who  are  the  earnest  advocates  of  prohi- 
bition, as  a bulwark  of  strength,  and  it  must  there- 
fore be  apparent  that  the  agitation  of  the  subject  will 
continue  until  the  liquor  traffic  ceases  altogether,  or 
its  sale,  as  a beverage,  is  restricted  in  some  manner 
which  shall  be  acceptable  to  the  masses. 


590 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 


The  first  opinion  here  cited  and  the  last  were  deliv- 
ered by  men  whose  political  associations  had  been  with 
the  Democratic  party.  The  Republican  party  gave  to 
the  people  of  Kansas  and  Iowa  prohibition,  and  it  re- 
mains to  be  seen  whether  it  will  attempt  congressional 
legislation  on  the'  subject.  A resolution  was  adopted 
as  a part  of  the  Republican  platform  of  1888,  which 
expressed  sympathy  with  all  well  directed  efforts  for 
the  promotion  of  temperance  and  morality,  but  how 
much  significance  can  be  given  to  this  is  wholly  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  Rut  so  far  as  National  legisla- 
tion upon  this  subject  is  concerned  it  involves  a grave 
question.  It  is  a familar  principle  that  the  powers 
conferred  upon  the  federal  government  by  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  are  necessarily  exclu- 
sive of  the  powers  of  the  States  over  the  same  subject. 
Repeated  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  made  under  the  fugitive  slave  law,  which  is 
now  obsolete,  and  with  respect  to  other  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  and  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
fully  support  this  proposition,  so  that  in  point  of 
law  any  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  of  the  character  suggested  would  probably 
oust  the  Stales  of  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  subject 
embraced  within  the  amendment.  Any  legislation  by 
the  federal  government  intended  to  give  effect  to  such 
an  amendment  would  take  from  the  municipalities  of 
the  States  all  the  control  they  at  present  possess  over 
the  subject,  and  would  disable  the  State  Legislatures 
from  passing  any  law  for  the  same  object.  Then,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Union,  the  federal 
government  would  by  a system  of  laws  assume  the 
functions  now  exercised  by  the  authorities  of  the 
States,  including  the  powers  of  cities,  towns  and 
villages,  and  it  is  thought  it  would  create  a necessity 
for  an  enormous  federal  police  to  take  the  place  of 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


591 


officers  existing  under  State  authority.  It  would  also 
compel  the  creation  of  numerous  courts,  under  federal 
laws,  to  take  jurisdiction  of  the  infinite  violations  of 
the  prohibitory  statutes.  The  States  would  be  filled 
with  officers  appointed  by  distant  authority,  and  it  is 
feared  that  the  result  would  be  that  either  conflicts  would 
take  place  between  the  police  authorities  of  the  States 
and  the  federal  government,  or  the  police  officers  ap- 
pointed by  federal  authority  would  absorb  the  whole 
police  jurisdiction  of  the  States.  Thus  it  will  be  seen, 
if  these  fears  are  well  founded,  that  it  would  be  a com- 
plete alteration  in  the  whole  system  of  government 
established  by  the  federal  constitution,  and  would 
break  down  all  the  barriers  between  the  now  separate 
powers  of  the  federal  and  State  governments,  so  far 
as  they  might  relate  to  the  control  over  the  liquor 
traffic.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  there  should  be  a 
wide  diversity  of  sentiment  in  the  minds  of  the  advo- 
cates of  prohibition  as  to  whether  it  shall  be  left  to 
the  States,  or  whether  it  shall  be  transferred  to  the 
control  of  the  United  States. 

So  far  as  the  public  mind  has  been  attracted  to  the 
subject  in  National  elections,  it  may  be  judged  by  the 
fact  that  in  1872  the  Prohibitionists  put  forth  their 
first  candidate  for  President,  in  the  person  of  James 
Black,  of  Pennsylvania.  He  received  but  5,608  votes, 
which  were  confined  to  Connecticut,  Michigan,  New 
Hampshire,  New  York,  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  In 
1876,  Green  Clay  Smith  was  the  candidate.  His  vote 
was  9,522.  In  1880,  Neal  Dow  was  the  candidate. 
His  vote  was  10,305.  In  1884,  JohnP.  St.  John  was  the 
candidate.  He  received  151,062.  In  this  contest  his- 
tory repeated  itself.  In  1844,  just  forty  years  before, 
the  candidates  for  President  were  Jas.  K.  Polk,  Dem- 
ocrat; Henry  Clay,  Whig,  and  Jas.  G.  Birney,  Liberty. 
The  whole  number  of  electoral  votes  was  then  but 


592 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


275;  necessary  to  a choice  138.  Clay  carried  Con- 
necticut, Delaware,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Massachu- 
setts, New  Jersey,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island, 
Tennessee  and  Vermont,  whose  electoral  votes  num- 
bered 105,  and  with  the  vote  of  New  York  he  would 
have  had  141,  three  more  than  were  necessary  to  a 
choice.  But  the  anti-slavery  men  were  bent  on  the 
abolition  of  slavery  and  they  voted  for  Birney,  not- 
withstanding it  was  widely  proclaimed  that  Clay  was 
an  emancipationist.  Birney  polled  15,812  votes  in 
New  York,  which  gave  the  State  to  Polk,  by  a plu- 
rality of  5,940.  So  it  was  in  1884,  the  vote  of  St. 
John  gave  the  State  of  New  York  to  Cleveland,  and 
that  defeated  Blaine.  In  1888,  Clinton  B.  Fisk  was 
the  candidate.  Electoral  tickets  were  nominated  in 
all  the  States  save  South  Carolina,  and  the  vote  ag- 
gregated 249,937  or  98  875  more  than  St.  John  re- 
ceived four  years  before. 

The  Prohibition  movement  resembles  in  another  re- 
spect the  policy  pursued  by  the  anti-slavery  men. 
They  oppose  the  liquor  traffic  in  all  the  States,  and 
while  they  do  not  expect  immediate  results,  yet  they 
confidently  hope  to  keep  the  traffic  out  of  the  new 
States,  and  finally  to  proclaim  the  emancipation  of  all 
the  States  from  the  saloon  system.  But  with  prohi- 
bition in  one  State,  local  option  in  another,  high 
license  in  another,  and  the  National  Government  li- 
censing the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  in  all  the  States 
and  Territories,  the  solution  of  the  question  yet  re- 
mains an  unsolved  problem  in  the  bosom  of  the  future. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  593 

OFFICIAL  VOTE. 

Governor. 

Joseph  W.  Fifer,  R 367,860 

John  M.  Palmer,  D 355,313 

David  H.  Harts,  Pro 18,874 

Willis  W.  Jones,  U.  L 6,394 

Lieutenant-Governor. 

Lyman  B.  Ray,  R 371.170 

Andrew  J.  Bell,  D 348,221 

Joseph  L.  Whitlock,  Pro 21,334 

John  M.  Foley,  U.  L 7,535 

Secretary  of  State. 

Isaac  N.  Pearson,  R 371,773 

Newell  D.  Ricks.  D 346,486 

J.  Ross  Hanna,  Pro 21,461 

Lloyd  W.  Robertson,  U.  L 7,685 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts. 

Charles  W.  Pavey,  R 370,492 

Andrew  Welch,  D 347,666 

Uriah  Copp,  Jr.,  Pro 21,316 

George  W.  Collins,  U.  L 7,661 

Treasurer. 

Charles  Becker,  R 369,881 

Francis  A.  Hoffman,  Jr 348,834 

John  W.  Hart,  Pro 21,410 

Nathan  Barnett,  U.  L 7,491 

Attorney-General. 

George  Hunt,  R 371,294 

Jacob  R.  Creighton,  D 347,171 

F.  E.  Andrews,  Pro 21,174 

John  M.  Dill,  U.  L 6.946 

Congressmen.— First  District. 

Abner  Taylor,  R 26,553 

James  F.  Todd,  D 22,697 

Harry  S.  Taylor 981 

Theophiln  Laramie 145 

Second  District. 

Daniel  F.  Gleason,  R 12,969 

Frank  Lawler,  D 19.051 

Frank  J.  Sibley 142 


38 


594  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Third  District. 

Vm.  E.  Mason,  R 23,671 

Milton  R.  Freshwater,  D 21,295 

Chas.  G.  Davis 734 

Frank  A.  Stauber 937 

Fourth  District. 

Geo.  E.  Adams,  R 22,273 

Jonathan  B.  Taylor,  D 19,755 

L.  D,  Rogers 1,353 

Henry  T.  Lloyd 59 

Fifth  District. 

Albert  J.  Hopkins,  R 20,077 

James  Herrington,  D 10,018 

John  M.  Strong 1,765 

Sixth  District. 

Robt.  R.  Hitt,  R 18,139 

Rufus  M.  Cook,  D 11,903 

George  Richardson 1,659 

Seventh  District. 

Thos.  J.  Henderson,  R 16,380 

Owen  G.  Lovejov,  D 11,341 

Alfred  M.  Hanson 1,185 

Eighth  District. 

Charles  A.  Hill,  R 20,596 

Lafayette  W.  Brewer,  D 17,454 

J.  L.  Reber 1,661 

John  McLaughlin 321 

Ninth  District. 

Lewis  E.  Payson,  R 16,871 

Herman  W.  Snow,  D 14,490 

Milvil  C.  Smith 1,345 

E.  R.  Wiley 74 

Tenth  District. 

Philip  S.  Post,  R 18,824 

Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  D 16,166 

James  H.  Sedgwick 804 

Eleventh  District. 

Wm.  H.  Gest,  R 19,657 

Wm.  Prentiss,  D 17,580 

Joseph  W.  McIntosh 1,109 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


595 


Twelfth  District. 

Scott  Wike,  D 21,938 

Wm.  H.  Collins,  R 10,628 

John  H.  Rives 905 

L.  N.  Wise 1,106 

„ Thirteenth  District. 

Wm.  M.  Springer,  D 21,364 

Charles  Kerr,  R 18,450 

Lafe  Swing 1,520 

John  Alsberry 260 

Fourteenth  District. 

Jonathan  H.  Rowell,  R..... 18,570 

Ethelbert  Stewart,  D 16,740 

Albert  F.  Smith 1,745 

Fifteenth  District. 

Jos.  G.  Cannon,  R 19,897 

Robert  L.  McKinlay,  D 17,204 

Jarius  C.  Sheldon 1,095 

Alexander  C.  Barton 189 

Sixteenth  District. 

Edwin  Harlan,  R 17,037 

George  W.  Fithian,  D 17,742 

Hale  Johnson,  Pro 684 

Thomas  Ratcliff 315 

Seventeenth  District. 

John  J.  Brown,  R 14,775 

Edward  Lane,  D 19,385 

Jasper  L.  Douthit 1,187 

Eighteenth  District. 

Jehu  Baker,  R 16,151 

Wm.  S.  Forman,  D 16,167 

W.  W.  Edwards 652 

Geo.  W.  Wickline 926 

Nineteenth  District. 

Richard  W.  Townshend,*  D 18,086 

W.  L.  Crim,  R 15,615 

Calendar  Bohrbough 425 

Twentieth  District. 

George  W.  Smith,  R 19,005 

Thomas  T.  Robinson,  D 17,186 

John  C.  McReynolds 667 


♦Died  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  March  9,  1889.  J.  It.  Williams  elected  to  fill 
vacancy. 


596  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OP  ILLINOIS. 

Electors — Harrison,  R. 

Charles  H.  Deere 370,473 

James  M.  Truitt 370,467 

John  Creour 370,471 

Michael  B.  Kearney 370,469 

John  R.  Wheeler 370,475 

Orrin  W.  Potter 370,469 

Harvey  A.  Jones 370,468 

Duncan  Mackay,  Jr 370.464 

James  Dinsmoor 370,462 

Isaac  C.  Norton 370,468 

Richard  J.  Hanna 370,465 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft 370,468 

Robert  Moir 370,467 

Thomas  Worthington,  Jr 370,467 

Dietrich  C.  Smith 370,468 

Vespasian  Warner 370,470 

William  R.  Jewell 370,467 

Ethelbert  Callahan 370,462 

Alexander  H.  McTaggart 370,467 

Emery  P.  State 370,469 

Allen  Bleakley 370,464 

Henry  C.  Horner 370,460 

Cleveland,  D. 

Monroe  C.  Crawford 348,278 

Charles  H.  Schwab 348,371 

Moses  J.  Wentworth 348,364 

William  H.  Joyce 348,364 

Robert  J.  Smith 348,363 

Michael  W.  Robinson 348,362 

Joseph  F.  Glidden., 348,363 

Thomas  J.  Sheean 348,361 

William  C.  Green 348,366 

Edwin  Porter 348,363 

George  0.  Barnes 348,350 

Harden  W.  Masters 348,362 

Timothy  J.  Scofield 348,360 

James  M.  Riggs 348,359 

William  P.  Callon 348,357 

Isaac  A.  Buckingham 348,362 

Alfred  C.  Ficklin 348,362 

Levi  H.  Brewer 348,361 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


597 


Cleveland,  D.— Continued. 

Erastus  N.  Rinehart 348,363 

Edward  C.  Pace 348,362 

James  R.  Williams 348,363 

John  Burks  May  ham 347,978 

Fisk,  Pro. 

James  S.  Tichnor 21,695 

James  Felter 21,696 

Isaac  H.  Pedrick 21,698 

Stephen  F.  Welbasky 21,701 

(Walter  J.  Bennett 21,702 

Henry  W.  Austin 21,701 

iForrest  J.  Crissey 21,701 

Joseph  P.  Wayland 21,701 

Albert  M.  Hansen 21,702 

Isaac  Claflin 21,701 

Jervice  G.  Evans 21,703 

David  J.  McCullough 21,702 

Isaac  M.  Kirkpatrick 21,702 

Andrew  C.  Wilson 21,703 

John  R.  Lockridge 21,703 

Jerome  R.  Gorrin 21,702 

T.  J.  N.  Simmons 21,701 

Robert  E.  Mathis 21,702 

Henry  B.  Kepley 21,703 

WT.  Henry  Moore 21,678 

A.  M.  Sturman 21,702 

George  A..  Gordon 21,701 

Streetek,  U.  L. 

Frank  C.  Fedon 7,090 

Andrew  M.  Glasgow 7,093 

Walter  Willis 7,134 

John  B.  Banning 7,134 

John  H.  Randall 7,134 

Bernard  Frese 7,134 

Vitringa  W.  Panton 7,134 

John  Budlong 7,134 

Timothy  Sammons 7,133 

L.  C.  Shumaker 7,134 

0.  W.  Barnard 7,134 

John  H.  Armstrong 7,134 

John  D.  Murphy 7,134 


598  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Streeter,  U.  L. — Continued. 


J.  F.  Lane 7,134 

H.  A.  Peabody 7,134 

Daniel  L.  Brangher 7,134 

Jesse  Harper 7,134 

C.  E.  Garwood 7.134 

Edward  Rossler 7,133 

H.  C.  Bonghan 7,133 

Henry  F.  Kelchner 7,133 

John  Dupoint 7,133 


The  popular  vote  of  Illinois  for  president  in  1888, 
was  as  follows : Harrison,  370,475;  Cleveland,  348,371; 
Fisk,  21,703;  Streeter,  7,534.  Total,  748,083.  In 
the  United  States  it  was,  Harrison,  5,441,902;  Cleve- 
land, 5,538,500;  Fisk,  249,937;  Streeter,  147,521. 
Total,  11,392,429.  Cleveland’s  plurality,  96,658. 
The  electoral  vote  was,  Harrison,  233;  Cleveland,  168. 

The  figures  relating  to  the  vote  for  president  in 
Illinois,  have  been  taken  from  an  official  publication 
by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  those  of  the  other 
States  from  the  Chicago  Daily  News  Almanac  of  1889. 

Harrison  carried  California,  Colorado,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minne- 
sota, Nebraska,  Nevada,  New  Hampshire,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Vermont, 
Wisconsin ; and  Cleveland  carried  Alabama,  Arkansas, 
Connecticut,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky, 
Louisiana,  Maryland,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  New  Jersey, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas, 
Virginia,  West  Virginia. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


599 


STATE  GOVERNMENT — 1889. 


Governor — Joseph  W.  Fifer. 

Lieutenant-Governor — Lyman  B.  Ray. 

Secretary  of  State — Isaac  N.  Pearson. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts — Charles  W.  Pavey. 
Treasurer — Charles  Becker. 

Attorney- General — George  Hunt. 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Richard  Edwards. 


Thirty-sixth  General  Assembly. f 

The  Thirty-sixth  General  Assembly  convened  January 
9,  1889. 

Senate. 

Bacon,  Chas.  H.,  Lockport.  Karraker , David  W.,  Jonesboro. 


Bacon,  George  E.,  Paris. 

Bassett,  Mark  M.,  Peoria. 

Berry,  Orville  F.,  Carthage. 
Bogardus,  Charles.  Paxton. 

Brink , F.  E.  W.,  Hoyleton. 

Burke,  Richard  M.,  Chicago. 
Campbell , James  R.,  McLeansboro, 
Chapman,  T.  S.,  Jersey ville. 
Crawford,  C.  H.,  Hyde  Park. 

Dean , Georpe  W.,  Adams. 

Eckhart,  B.  A.,  Chicago. 

Evans,  Henry  H.,  Aurora. 

Frisbee,  William  J.,  Bushnell. 
Fuller,  Charles  E.,  Belvidere. 
Garrity,  Michael  F.,  Chicago. 

Gibbs,  George  A. , Chicago. 
Greenwood,  C.  F.,  Waterman. 
Griswold,  Charles  A.,  Fulton. 
Hadley,  W.  F.  L.,  Edwardsville. 
Hagle,  Dios  C.,  Flora. 

Hamer,  Thomas,  Vermont. 

Hip  bee,  Harry , Pittsfield. 

Hogan,  Daniel,  Mound  City. 
Humphrey,  John,  Orland. 

Johns,  Wm.  C.,  Decatur. 


Kerrick,  Thomas  C.,  Bloomington. 
Knopf,  Philip,  Chicago. 

Deeper,  Arthur  A.,  Virginia. 
*Lehman,  Lewis  L.,  Mattoon. 
McDonald,  E.  L.,  Jacksonville. 
MacMillan,  Thomas  C.,  Chicago. 
Matthews,  Milton  W.,  Urbana. 
Monahan,  James,  Chicago. 

Newell,  Martin  L.,  Minonk. 
Pierce,  John  H.,  Kewanee. 
Reavill,  A.  J.,  Flat  Rock. 
Reinhardt,  Joseph,  Peru. 

Rickert,  Joseph  W.,  Waterloo. 
Secrest,  Conrad,  Watseka. 

Stiter,  Henry,  Lebanon. 

Sheets,  Benjamin  F.,  Oregon. 
Shumway,  Hiram  P.,  Taylorville. 
Shutt,  Wm.  E.,  Springfield. 
Stephenson,  L.  B.,  Shelbyville. 
Strattan,  A.  M.,  Mt.  Vernon. 
Thomas,  Horace  H.,  Chicago. 
Washburn,  E.  A.,  Princeton. 

Wiles,  Robert  H.,  Freeport. 

Yost,  John,  Elba. 


♦Successor  to  McGrath,  deceased. 

tRepublicans  in  Roman,  Democrats  in  Italic , and  United  Labor  in 
Small  Capitals. 


600 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


House  of  Kepresentatives.1- 


Allen,  Chas.  A.,  Hoopeston. 

Allen,  Henry  W.,  Kirkwood. 

Allen , Sylvester,  Oxville. 

Anderson,  James  O.,  Oquawka. 
Baker,  George  S.,  Chicago. 

Ball,  Jonas  T .,  Toluca. 

Bartleson,  Horatio  R.,  Macomb. 
Blair,  Eugene  K .,  Waverly. 
Bowler,  William  H.,  O’Fallon. 
Bradshaw,  B.  H.,  Compton. 

Bray,  Levi  T.,  Lanark. 

Breeden,  R.  G.,  Tennessee. 
Brokoski,  F.  A.,  Chicago. 

Brown,  Julius  A.,  Monticello. 
Browne,  Edgar  S.,  Mendota. 
Buchanan,  James  N.,  Chicago. 
Buckley,  William,  Chicago. 
Carmody,  Henry  P.,  Chicago. 
Carstens,  John,  Nokomis. 

Chott,  Quida  J.,  Chicago. 
Cochennour,  John  S.,  Olney. 
Cochran,  William  G.,  Lovington. 
Coen,  Peter  A.,  Washburn. 

Cole,  Walter,  Marshall. 

Combs,  Joseph  A.,  Mulberry  Grove 
Converse,  A.  L.,  Springfield. 
Cooley,  Orrin  P.,  Oneida. 

Cox,  William,  Grand  Detour. 

Crafts,  Clayton  E.,  Austin. 

Craig,  Isaac  B.,  Mattoon. 

Crawford,  W.  F.,  Taylor  Ridge. 
Crossett,  Dwight,  Courtland. 

Davis,  Robert  H.,  Carrollton. 
Dalashmutt,  Wm.  G.,  Martinsville. 
Dixon,  Sherwood,  Dixon. 

Doolittle,  Edwin  A.,  Carrollton. 
Ecton,  Geo.  F.,  Chicago. 

Eddy,  John,  Bloomington. 

Enslow,  David  C.,  McVey. 

Farmer,  Wm.  M.,  Vandalia. 
Farrell,  James  H.,  Chicago. 

Fisher,  H.  V.,  Geneseo. 

Ford,  John  S.,  Chicago. 

Fowler,  James  M.,  Marion. 

Getman,  Jethro  M.,  Chicago. 

Gill,  Joseph  B.,  Murphysboro. 
Gould,  Edson,  Bone  Gap. 

Graham,  Nicholas  R , Wheaton. 
Green,  Reed,  Cairo. 

Gregg,  Hugh  C.,  Elba. 


*Died  April  25,  1889, 

+ Republicans  in  Roman, 
Small  Capitals. 


*Haines,  Elijah  M.,  Waukegan. 
Hart,  John  M.,  Eden. 

Hawley,  Edgar  C.,  Dundee. 

Hayes,  Samuel  C.,  Chicago. 

Hill,  Josiah  A.,  Sharpsburg. 

Hill,  Robert  H.,  Boody. 

Hopprn,  Bushrod  E.,  Englewood. 
Hunt,  Daniel  D.,  DeKalb. 

Hunter,  David,  Rockford. 

Hunter,  James  W , Hermon. 

Hurst,  Elmore  W.,  Rock  Island. 
Ireland,  Robert  M.,  Elgin. 

Johnson,  Wm.  L.  R.,  Buckley. 
Jones,  Wiley  E.,  Springfield. 
Keller,  David  P.,  Macon. 

Kenny,  James,  Peoria. 

Kent,  William  E.,  Chicago. 
Kretzinger,  Wm.  H.,  Latham. 
Kunz,  Stanley  H.,  Chicago. 

Lacey,  Royal  R.,  Elizabethtown. 
Lee,  Milton,  Rossville. 

Lester,  Andrew  J.,  Springfield. 
Logsdon,  Perry,  Rushville. 

Lyman , William  PI.,  Chicago. 
.Lyon,  Charles  M.,  McLeansboro. 
McCall,  Peter,  Spring  Valley. 
McClanahan,  John  P.,  Alexis. 
McCreery,  William  T..  Huntsville. 
McDonald,  John,  Hardin. 
McDowell,  Andrew  S.,  Clayton. 
McElligott,  T.  G.,  Chicago. 

McGee , James  Park,  Tuscola. 
McLaughlin,  D.,  Braidwood. 
Mahoney,  Jos.  P.,  Chicago. 
Marshall,  Thos.  A.,  Keithsburg. 
Martin,  Samuel  H.,  Carmi. 
Matthews,  Asa  C.,  Pittsfield. 
Merritt,  Thos.  E.,  Salem. 

Meyer,  John,  Chicago. 

Mieure,  Wm.  H.  II.,  Lawrence ville, 
Miller,  Jacob,  Chicago. 

Miller,  James  H.,  Toulon. 
Monaghan,  James  L.,  Chicago. 
Mooney,  William,  Braidwood. 
Morrasy,  Anthony,  Sheffield. 
Morris,  Free  P.,  Watseka. 

Myer,  N.  J.,  Ocoya. 

Myers,  Joseph  C.,  Clinton. 
O'Donnell,  Joseph  H.,  Chicago. 
O'Toole,  James  J.,  Chicago. 


in  Italic,  and  United  Labor  in 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


601 


House  of  Representatives. — Continued. 


Oglevee,  William  H.,  Clinton. 
Paddock,  Daniel  H.,  Kankakee. 
Padon , Henry  H.,  Troy. 

Parker , Isaac  A.  J.,  Vienna.  - 
Partridge,  C.  A.,  Waukegan. 
Pepoon,  Geo.  W.,  Warren. 

Phillips , Frederick  B .,  Belleville. 
Pike,  Ivory  H.,  Bloomington. 
Pollard,  O.  W.,  Dwight. 

Prince,  George  W.,  Galesburg. 
Pugh , John  TV.,  Mason  City. 

Quinn , James  F .,  Chicago. 

Ramey,  Thomas  T.,  Brooks. 
Ramsay,  Rufus  N.,  Carlyle. 
Reynolds,  Stephen  A.,  Chicago. 
Rice,  Eugene,  Camargo. 

Rice,  Thomas  J.,  Tamaroa. 

, Ross,  David,  Oglesby. 

Schneider , J.  J.,  Effingham. 
Schuwerk,  William  M.,  Evansville. 
Scudamore,  Joseph  B.,  Wayne  City. 
Simpson,  Robert,  Rockford. 

Sloan,  Wm.  G.,  Harrisburg. 

, Smiley,  Samuel  C.,  O’Fallon. 
Smith,  James  A.,  Chatsworth. 
Southworth,  G.  S.,  Woodstock. 

' Sparks,  David  R.,  Alton. 


Spitler,  Frank,  Sullivan. 

Stinson,  Robert  B.,  Anna. 

Stookey,  David  B.,  Cramer. 
Stoskopf,  Michael , Freeport. 
Sullivan,  Thomas,  Jr.,  Akin. 
Sundelius,  Peter  A.,  Chicago. 

* Tee  fey,  John  J.,  Mount  Sterling. 
Telford,  Matthew,  Dix. 

Terpening,  Henry  L.,  Cropsey. 
Tilton,  George  R.,  Danville. 

Towse,  Watson  A.,  Carlin ville. 
Trench,  J.  P.,  LaSalle. 

Tyler,  Ira,  Richfield. 

Updike,  Pierson  B.,  Litchfield. 
Walker,  James  R.,  Columbia. 

Walsh  j James,  Chicago. 

Wells,  Albert  TV,  Quincy. 

White,  John  W.,  Tampico. 

White,  John  TV,  Allentown. 
Whitehead,  Edward  J.,  Austin. 
Wilk,  William  F.,  Chicago. 

Wilke,  Fred,  Beecher. 

Willeford,  Edward  L .,  Old  Ripley. 
Willet,  Reuben  W.,  Yorkville. 
Williams,  Wm.  6r.,  Newton. 
Wisner,  Frank  J.,  Chicago. 


Governor  Fifer  was  inaugurated  January  14,  1889. 

The  Republicans  had  a working  majority  in  both 
houses.  Lyman  B.  Ray  presided  over  the  Senate  as 
president.  Theo.  S.  Chapman  was  elected  president 
pro  tempore.  In  the  House  A.  C.  Matthews  was 
chosen  speaker,  but  on  the  10th  of  May  resigned  the 
office,  having  been  appointed  First  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  when  James  H.  Miller 
was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

S.  M.  Cullom  was  reelected  United  States  Senator 


on  the  22d  day  of  January,  over  John  M.  Palmer, 
by  a vote  of  115  to  84. 

The  legislation  of  this  session  was  not  unlike  that 
of  many  previous  assemblies.  The  good  men  of  the 
body  sought  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  the  people, 
but  with  no  great  leader  in  either  house  of  either 


Died.  No  Successor. 


602 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


party  to  direct  intelligent  action,  such  measures  as 
related  to  the  equalization  of  taxation,  prison  manage- 
ment and  the  purification  and  protection  of  the  ballot- 
box  failed,  but  it  is  not  believed  that  any  pernicious 
legislation  found  its  way  upon  the  statute-books.  If 
we  except  the  proposition  to  allow  the  people  to  vote 
upon  the  question  of  prohibition — a right  they  have 
long  petitioned  for — the  defeat  of  the  ten  proposed 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State  was 
wise.  The  changing  of  an  organic  act  in  whole  or  in 
part,  without  mature  consideration,  is  abvays  at- 
tended with  dangerous  consequences,  but  to  have  con- 
sented to  the  replacement  of  the  present  Constitution 
with  a new  one,  when  statesmanship  is  dethroned  and 
the  mere  politician  holds  sway,  vrould  simply  have  been 
a leap  in  the  dark. 

The  aggregate  appropriations  of  this  assembly  were 
$7,390,381.78.  The  levy  bill  provided  for  a levy  for  the 
years  1889  and  1890  of  $5,400,000. 

These  lavish  appropriations  do  not  indicate  the 
same  desire  for  economy  which  prevailed  in  1848,  when 
we  take  into  consideration  that  the  biennial  report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  Illinois,  for  1888, 
shows  that  there  were  8,082,794  acres  of  land  put 
under  mortgage  during  the  year  1887,  as  security  for 
the  payment  of  $147,320,054.  It  is  apparent  from 
these  figures  that  the  agricultural  interests  of  the 
State  are  not  in  a prosperous  condition,  and  hence 
the  wide-spread  demand  by  the  owners  of  farm  lands  for 
an  equalization  of  taxation. 

There  were  170  acts  passed  by  this  bodv,  88  of 
which  originated  in  the  Senate  and  82  in  the  House. 
The  Governor  approved  86  of  the  Senate  bills  and  79 
of  the  House,  and  vetoed  three  of  the  House  bills  and 
two  of  the  Senate. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


603 


This  assembly  was  confronted  with  an  unpleasant 
duty.  During  the  campaign  of  1888,  Governor  Oglesby 
had  been  openly  charged  by  political  adversaries  with 
an  unlawful  use  of  the  public  money,  and  subsequently 
the  State  Grange  passed  a series  of  resolutions 
demanding  an  investigation  of  the  matter  by  the 
General  Assembly,  and  soon  after  its  organization  a 
committee  was  appointed  in  the  Senate,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Shumway,  for  that  purpose,  but  the  action  of  the 
committee  was  so  partisan  in  its  labors  as  to  defeat 
the  object  of  the  investigation.  There  were  two  reports 
— a majority  and  a minority.  The  one  acquitted  the 
Governor  and  the  other  found  him  guilty,  and  thus 
the  people  are  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity 
of  the  charges. 

Abuses  find  their  way  into  the  administration  of 
almost  every  high  trust  within  the  gift  of  the  people, 
either  through  carelessness  or  a willful  disregard  of 
the  strict  letter  of  the  law,  but  un&er  our  form  of 
government  no  man  ever  attains  such  eminence  as  to 
preclude  him  from  accountability  to  the  people  for 
his  acts  as  their  servant,  and  a legislative  body  that 
declines  to  pass  impartially  upon  charges  preferred 
against  a public  servant,  is  unmindful  of  its  duty  to 
itself  and  to  its  constituents. 

John  M.  Palmer  was  Governor  of  Illinois  when  the 
Constitution  of  1870  went  into  effect,  and  in  his  mes- 
sage to  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly,  at  its 
special  session  in  May,  1871,  he  addressed  himself 
thus  on  this  very  question : 

The  salary  of  the  Governor  was,  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1847,  fixed  at  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  no  more;  but  at  successive  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly,  appropriations  were  made  of  con- 
siderable sums,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  Governor,  that  were  regarded  and  treated  as  ad- 
ditions to  his  constitutional  salary. 


604 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


At  the  session  of  1869,  the  sum  of  forty-five  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum  was  appropriated  for  fuel  and 
'lights  for  the  Executive  Mansion,  and  to  defray  the 
expense  of  keeping  the  same,  and  the  grounds  thereto 
i attached,  in  repair,  payable  quarterly  upon  the  order 
i of  the  Governor.  This  sum  of  money  has  been  regu- 
larly drawn  by  me,  and  after  the  satisfaction  of  the 
special  objects  of  procuring  fuel  and  lights,  and  keep- 
; ing  the  grounds  in  repair,  as  intended  by  the  act,  the 
excess  that  remained  has  been  treated  as  appropriated 
for  my  own  personal  use. 

I state  this  matter  at  length  for  the  double  object 
of  illustrating  the  vicious  system  of  appropriations 
that  had  grown  up  under  the  Constitution  of  1847, 
in  which  every  department  of  the  government  was,  to 
a greater  or  less  extent,  involved,  and  of  giving  force 
to  the  expression  of  my  opinion  that  similar  appro- 
priations and  constructions  are  impossible  under  the 
Constitution  now  in  operation. 

Besides  the  investigation  of  the  case  of  Governor 
Oglesby,  the  Senate  was  involved  in  an  investigation 
which  affected  its  own  integrity.  It  was  publicly 
charged,  in  an  alleged  interview  with  Jacob  Bunn, 
which  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Tribune,  that  $50,000 
had  been  raised  to  defeat  the  passage  of  the  Merritt 
Anti-Trust  Bill  which  had  previously  passed  the  House, 
but  the  investigation  acquitted  the  Senators  from  any 
dishonorable  methods  in  connection  with  the  defeat  of 
the  measure. 

In  times  past  it  has  not  been  an  uncommon  thing 
to  see  Senators  and  Representatives  rise  in  their  places 
in  open  session,  or  in  committee,  and  pronounce  some 
measure  before  the  body  “a  steal,”  or  to  charge,  in 
the  same  manner,  that  the  passage  of  certain  measures 
were  hindered  or  accelerated  by  the  improper  use  of 
money,  but  when  a newspaper  reporter  dared  to  com- 
municate to  the  press  what  was  the  common  talk 
before  the  body,  members  have  been  known  to  rise  to 
questions  of  privilege  and  assault  the  reporter  in  un- 
measured terms. 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


605 


At  the  session  of  the  Thirtieth  General  Assembly,  in 
1877,  there  were  three  committees  appointed  to  inves- 
tigate charges  of  corruption  and  bribery  of  members 
of  the  House  upon  three  different  subjects.  Indeed, 
the  entire  session  was  clouded  with  the  cry  of  bribery, 
but  the  only  definite  thing  done  in  the  way  of  an 
investigation  was  to  send  the  reporter  of  the  Chicago 
Tribune  to  the  jail  of  Sangamon  County  for  an  indefi- 
nite period,  as  a contumacious  witness,  because  he 
wrould  not  divulge  the  name  of  the  member  who  had 
told  him  that  he  had  been  offered  $5,000  to  vote  for 
a certain  measure. 

Another  notable  case  was  in  1885.  A reporter  in  the 
the  House  stated,  in  his  correspondence,  that  he  had 
in  his  possession  the  names  of  twenty -three  members 
who  had  compromised  the  dignity  of  the  House  by 
making  corrupt  propositions  to  corporations.  This 
startled  the  members,  and  an  investigation  was  at 
once  instituted,  and,  although  it  developed  the  fact 
that  two  members  of  the  House  w^ere  guilty  of  the 
charge,  yet  the  report  was  smothered  by  being  denied, 
by  a vote  of  the  House,  a place  upon  its  journal,  and 
the  reporter  was  denounced  by  members  in  the  severest 
terms. 

The  lesson  this  last  investigation  teaches  us  is,  that  if 
members  of  a legislative  body  will,  from  day  to  day, 
publicly  proclaim  that  there  are  “ sand-baggers 77  in 
their  midst  whose  votes  are  controlled  by  the  improper 
use  of  money,  it  would  be  strange  if  somebody  did  not 
believe  it,  and  it  would  be  equally  strange  if  some 
newspaper  reporter  did  not  put  it  into  the  public 
press  as  a fact. 

The  tendency  of  all  this  is  to  drive  the  better  class 
of  men  from  the  halls  of  legislation,  but  will  it  not 
result’  in  the  near  future,  in  such  a revolution  in  pub- 
lic sentiment  as  prevailed  at  the  time  the  Constitu- 


606 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


tion  of  1848  was  framed,  which  transferred  the  power 
of  the  government  from  the  officeholders  to  the 
people  ? 

The  rumor  of  influencing  the  vote  of  the  Senate  in 
opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  Anti-Trust  Bill 
brings  vividly  to  mind  the  time  when  John  A.  Logan 
was  last  elected  United  States  Senator.  The  very  air 
was  full  of  all  sorts  of  rumors  of  corruption.  The 
joint  assembly,  with  all  the  members  elected  present, 
numbered  204,  but  a bare  majority  of  the  two  houses, 
voting  in  joint  assembly,  could  have  elected  a United 
States  Senator;  that  is,  if  100  Democrats  and  the 
one  Independent  had  voted  for  Mr.  Morrison,  and  only 
two  Republicans  for  Logan,  Mr.  Morrison  would  have 
been  legally  elected  United  States  Senator,  or,  if  the 
102  Republicans  had  voted  for  Logan,  and  only  one 
Democrat  for  Mr.  Morrison,  or  any  other  candidate, 
Logan’s  election  would  have  been  secured  beyond 
question.  Up  to  the  14th  of  May  the  Democrats 
had  been  unable  to  unite  their  forces  upon  Mr. 
Morrison.  On  that  day  he  received,  in  joint  as- 
sembly, the  100  votes  of  his  party  and  the  one  Inde- 
pendent twice  in  succession,  when  his  name  was  with- 
drawn. The  Republicans  refrained  from  voting.  At 
this  juncture  the  name  of  Lambert  Tree  was  intro- 
duced. Three  other  ballots  were  taken,  when  a recess 
occurred  until  7:30  p.  m.  The  first  vote  taken  after 
assembling  in  the  evening  was,  Tree  91,  scattering  9. 
The  second  ballot,  Tree  101,  Logan  1.  Total  102. 
Necessary  to  a choice  103.  The  one  vote  for  Logan 
threw  the  assembly  into  the  wildest  confusion,  and 
Republican  Senators  and  Representatives  boldly 
charged  corruption,  and  lobbyists  were  pointed  out 
as  being  upon  the  floor  for  the  purpose  of  improperly 
influencing  Republicans  in  their  vote  for  Senator.  The 
last  time  we  saw  General  Logan  he  related  to  us  many 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS.  607 


interesting  details  concerning  that  hard-fought  battle, 
in  which  he  said  it  had  often  been  stated  that  $50,- 

000  had  been  provided  to  secure  his  defeat,  but  that, 
alarming  and  unreasonable  as  the  statement  might 
seem,  the  sum  was  even  greater.  Said  he:  “The  man 
to  whom  $60,000  had  been  given  to  corrupt  Republi- 
can members  placed  that  money  in  my  hands  that  I 
might  see  with  my  own  eyes  what  was  going  on,  and 

1 could  have  put  it  into  the  Leland  safe  had  I so 
desired;  but  they  gave  the  money  to  a friend,  and 
not  an  enemy  as  they  supposed,  and  thus  the  scheme 
of  bribery  failed.”  Degrading  and  doubtful  as  this 
statement  may  seem  to  be,  yet,  coming  from  a man 
like  Logan,  it  must  be  accepted  as  true. 


Spoils  System. 

Though  the  two  great  political  parties  of  this  country 
stand  committed  in  national  convention  against  what 
is  denominated  the  spoils  system,  yet  many  Senators 
and  Representatives  of  either  party  practice  the  doc- 
trine that  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils,  and 
whenever  and  wherever  the  President  dares  to 
make  an  appointment  outside  of  the  persons 
they  may  have  named  for  this  or  that  office, 
he  is  charged  with  exercising  a right  which  is 
not  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution.  President 
Grant  experienced  much  opposition  from  such 
Senators,  yet  it  is  not  believed  that  he  ever  yielded 
to  senatorial  dictation.  President  Hayes  became  a 
victim  to  the  wrath  of  Senators  who  sought  to  con- 
trol the  patronage  of  his  administration.  The  sudden 
taking  off  of  President  Garfield,  by  an  assassin  whose 
mind  was  dethroned  by  a morbid  desire  for  office,  has 
left  the  world  in  doubt  as  to  what  would  have  been 
the  character  of  his  policy  with  respect  to  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  public  trusts;  but  his  successor,  Chester 


608 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


A.  Arthur,  won  the  respect  of  the  Nation  by  his 
admirable  administration.  President  Cleveland  dis- 
pleased many  of  his  party  followers,  and  Senators  as 
well,  because  he  did  not  remove  all  the  Republican 
officials  from  office,  and  it  had  its  effect  in  the  cam- 
paign in  which  he  sought  a reelection.  President 
Harrison  came  into  office,  not  without  experience  in 
public  life,  with  a purpose  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  government  wisely  and  well,  and  yet  three  months 
had  not  elapsed  before  he  was  confronted  with  an 
obstinate  senatorial  dictation  which  threatened  the 
harmony,  if  not  the  success,  of  his  administration ; 
but,  imitating  the  example  of  his  illustrious  predeces- 
sor, Grant,  he  turned  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left. 

The  repeated  conflicts  that  have  taken  place  between 
the  Executive  and  the  Senators,  from  administration 
to  administration,  is  fast  serving  to  stimulate  the 
belief  that  the  Senators  who  prostitute  their  high 
calling  by  becoming  the  mere  hucksters  in  office  will 
finally  be  driven  from  power  by  an  outraged  public 
sentiment,  while  the  principle  enunciated  in  the  sub- 
joined paragraph’,  taken  from  one  of  the  platforms  of 
the  party  which  Abraham  Lincoln  first  led  to  victory, 
will  live  when  the  mere  politician — the  spoilsman— 
shall  have  gone  into  utter  oblivion: 

Under  the  Constitution  the  President  and  heads 
of  departments  are  to  make  nominations  for  office, 
the  Senate  is  to  advise  and  consent  to  appointments, 
and  the  House  of  Representatives  is  to  accuse  and 
prosecute  faithless  officers.  The  .best  interest  of  the 
public  service  demands  that  these  directions  be  re- 
spected; that  Senators  and  Representatives  who  may 
be  judges  and  accusers  should  not  dictate  appoint- 
ments to  office.  The  invariable  rule  in  appointments 
should  haye  reference  to  the  honesty,  fidelity  and 
capacity  of  the  appointees,  giving  to  the  party  in 
power  those  places  where  harmony  and  vigor  of  ad- 
ministration require  its  policy  to  be  represented,  but 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


609 


permitting  all  others  to  be  filled  by  persons  selected 
with  sole  reference  to  the  efficiency  of  the  public  ser- 
vice, and  the  right  of  all  citizens  to  share  in  the  honor 
of  rendering  faithful  service  to  the  country. 

Yea,  we  repeat,  if  this  “ government  of  the  people, 
for  the  people,  and  by  the  people,  ” is  to  be  continued, 
the  doctrine  set  forth  in  the  above  paragraph  must 
become  the  settled  policy  of  whatever  party  may  be  in 
power. 


A Political  Revolution. 

The  government  of  Chicago  has  for  years  been  under 
the  control  of  what  is  termed  “political  bosses”  of 
one  or  the  other  great  parties,  and  because  of  this  it 
has  been  shifted  at  different  times  from  one  party  to 
the  other  by  the  force  of  a mighty  revolution.  In 
1877  Carter  H.  Harrison,  a Democrat,  was  elected 
mayor  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  and  he  was  re- 
elected four  successive  times;  but,  in  1886,  his  star 
began  to  wane,  and  in  1887  he  declined  to  be  a can- 
didate. In  that  year  John  A.  Roche,  Republican,  was 
elected  mayor  by  a majority  of  30,000,  but  in  1889, 
although  he  received  the  renomination  without  oppo- 
sition, and  had  the  support  of  all  his  party  papers, 
and  the  Chicago  Times  as  well,  he  was  defeated  by 
DeWitt  C.  Cregier,  Democrat,  by  a majority  of  over 
12,000,  and  the  whole  city  and  county  tickets  were 
carried  down  with  him  by  similar  majorities,  save 
Franz  Amberg,  the  candidate  for  city  clerk,  who  had 
been  relieved  by  the  State  administration  of  the  office 
of  Penitentiary  Commissioner.  Such  a defeat,  coming 
so  soon  after  the  Republican  triumph  in  1888  in  the 
State  and  Nation,  shows  how  deeply  seated  is  the 
prejudice  of  the  people  against  the  despotic  rule  of 
“political  bosses,”  and  it  gives  hope  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country  will  outlive  them  and  all  their 
methods.  39 


*1 


' 


LIBRARY 
OF  THE 

university  of  iu.n°is. 


APPENDIX 


CHAPTER  I. 

ILLINOIS. 


Formation  into  a Territory— Qfficers^Formation  of  Legislative  Districts— 
Territorial  Legislation— Personal. 


We  learn  from  the  History  of  the  United  States  that 
the  Illinois  country  was  first  explored  by  LaSalle,  the 
French  Missionaries  and  Indian  traders,  who  formed  the 
earliest  settlement  at  Kaskaskia,  in  1683;  that  the  coun- 
try was  first  owned  by  the  French  and  was  afterward 
ceded  to  Great  Britain,  when  it  became  a part  of  the 
possessions  of  Virginia.  The  questions  growing  out  of  the 
ownership,  by  several  States,  of  vast  tracts  of  unoccupied 
land,  were  very  difficult  of  solution,  owing,  in  many  in- 
stances, to  rival  claims  based  on  the  comprehensive,  ill- 
defined,  and  often  conflicting  grants  made  by  different 
sovereigns  of  England  to  colonies  and  colonists  in  the 
new  world;  and  the  conviction  in  various  quarters  that 
all  the  territory  acquired  from  Great  Britain  by  the  treaty 
of  1783,  having  been  secured  by  the  blood  and  the  treas- 
ure of  the  whole  people,  should  be  held  by  all  the  States 
as  common  property.  The  data  in  possession  of  the 
European  governments  in  relation  to  this  continent  were 
so  vague  that  it  was  impossible  to  define  their  grants  with 
anything  like  accuracy;  and  they  seemed  to  think  that 
the  country  was  so  expansive  that  there  was  scarcely  any 

1 


2 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


limit  to  its  extent  or  their  power  over  it;  and  the  result 
was  that  different  colonies  claimed  the  ownership  of  the 
same  territory,  and  in  various  instances  it  was  claimed  by 
several  conflicting  authorities.  These  questions  proved  for 
a time  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  accord  among  the 
several  States;  and  so  complicated  did  they  become  that 
at  times  they  seemed  impossible  of  adjustment.  But  the 
sound  common  sense  and  the  enlightened  patriotism  that 
had  governed  the  statesmen  of  that  day,  throughout  their 
perilous  conflict,  proved  sufficient  for  this  last  emergency. 
Virginia  took  the  first  practical  step  in  the  direction  of  a 
settlement,  by  the  cession  to  the  confederacy,  in  1784,  of 
all  her  land  Northwest  of  the  Ohio  river — which  was  accepted 
by  Congress— and  in  relation  to  which  the  Ordinance  of 
1787  was  subsequently  adopted.  By  this  measure  the  ob- 
stacles were  removed.  From  this  territory  was  formed  five 
States — Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin — 
all  devoted  to  freedom.  (See  Hickey’s  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.)  Illinois  was  a part  of  Indiana  Territory 
when  organized  as  a Territory. 

February  8,  1809,  Congress  passed  an  act  dividing  the 
Indiana  Territory  into  two  separate  governments,  and 
establishing  the  Territory  of  Illinois.  President  Madison 
appointed  John  Boyle,  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  of  Kentucky,  Governor  of  the  Territory,  but  he 
declined,  and  Ninian  Edwards,  Chief  Justice  of  the  same 
Court,  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  Nathaniel  Pope  was 
appointed  Secretary;  Alexander  Stuart,  Obadiah  Jones  and 
Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Judges;  Benjamin  H.  Boyle,  Attorney- 
General.  This  composed  the  Territorial  Government. 

Under  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  the  act  of  Congress 
February  3,  1809,  the  Governor  and  Judges  constituted 
the  law-making  power  of  the  Territory,  and  as  such  they  met 
for  the  first  time  at  Kaskaskia,  June  13,  1809,  and  their 
first  act  was  to  resolve  that  the  laws  of  Indiana  Territory, 


APPENDIX. 


3 


in  force  prior  to  March  1,  1809,  which  applied  to  the 
government  of  the  Territory,  should  remain  in  full  force 
and  effect.  The  duration  of  the  session  was  seven  days, 
in  which  thirteen  acts  were  passed. 

The  second  session  of  the  Council  was  held  in  1810,  at 
which  fourteen  acts  were  passed,*  and  the  third  and  last 
session  was  held  in  1811,  at  which  five  acts  were  passed. 
Among  the  laws  enacted  were  some  from  the  Georgia, 
Kentucky,  Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina  statutes. 

In  May,  1812,  Congress  passed  an  act  authorizing  the 
formation  of  five  Legislative  districts  in  the  Territory  which 
were  to  be  apportioned  by  the  Governor,  and  from  each  of 
which  was  to  be  elected  a member  of  the  Legislative  Coun- 
cil, who  should  hold  the  office  four  years ; the  number  of 
Representatives  to  be  elected  was  not  to  be  less  than  seven 
nor  more  than  twelve,  until  the  number  of  ‘ free  male, 
white  inhabitants  ” should  equal  six  thousand,  and  after 
that  time  the  number  was  to  be  governed  by  the  Ordinance 
of  1787.  The  office  of  Representative  was  for  two  years. 

Governor  Edwards  called  the  first  election  for  Council- 
men  and  Representatives  for  October  8,  9 and  10,  1812. 

Territorial  Government,  1812. 

Governor — Ninian  Edwards. 

Secretary  of  the  Territory— Nathaniel  Pope. 

Auditor  of  Public  Accounts— H.  H.  Maxwell. 

Attorney-General — B.  M.  Piatt. 

Treasurer — John  Thomas. 

First  Territorial  Legislature. 

The  first  session  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  under  the 
act  of  Congress  of  May  12,  convened  at  Kaskaskia,  No- 
vember 25,  1812,  and  was  composed  of  the  following 
members : 

Council. 

Pierre  Menard,  Randolph.  Samuel  Judy,  Madison. 
Benjamin  Talbott,  Gallatin.  Thomas  Ferguson,  Johnson. 
William  Biggs,  St.  Clair. 


4 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


House  of  Represent attves. 

George  Fisher,  Randolph.  Joshua  Oglesby,  St.  Clair. 
Alexander  Wilson,  Gallatin.  Jacob  Short,  St.  Clair. 

Philip  Trammel,  Gallatin.  William  Jones,  Madison. 
John  Grammar,  Johnson. 

Pierre  Menard  was  -elected  President  of  the  Council, 
and  John  Thomas  Secretary.  George  Fisher  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  William  C.  Greenup  Clerk. 

The  duration  of  this  session  was  thirty-two  days,  and 
the  whole  number  of  acts  passed  was  twenty-seven.  The 
salary  of  the  Attorney-General  was  fixed  at  $175  per  an- 
num; Auditor,  $150;  Treasurer,  $150;  and  members  of 
the  Legislature  at  $2  per  day. 

A second  session  of  this  body  convened  November  8, 
1813.  Thirteen  laws  were  passed,  principal  among  which 
was  one  to  prevent  the  sale  of  liquor  to  the  Indians,  and 
another  to  prevent  the  emigration  of  negroes  or  mulattoes 
into  the  Territory. 

Second  Territorial  Legislature. 

The  Second  Territorial  Legislature  convened  on  the  14th 
of  November,  1814,  and  was  composed  of  the  following 
members : 

Council. 

Piorre  Menard,  Randolph.  Samuel  Judy,  Madison. 

Wm.  Biggs,  St.  Clair.  Thomas  Ferguson,  Johnson. 

Benj,  Talbott,  Gallatin. 

House  of  Representatives. 

Risdon  Moore,  St.  Clair.  Philip  Trammel,  Gallatin. 
Wm.  Rabb,  Madison.  Thos.  C.  Browne,  Gallatin. 

Jas.  Lemen,  Jr.,  St.  Clair  Owen  Evans,  Johnson. 

Jas.  Gilbreath,  Randolph. 

The  officers  of  the  Council  were  the  same  as  in  the 
preceding  Legislature.  In  the  House,  Risdon  Moore  was 
elected  Speaker,  and  William  Mears,  who  had  succeeded 
B.  M.  Piatt  as  Attorney-General,  Clerk. 


APPENDIX. 


5 


The  laws  excluding  Judges  of  the  Courts  and  surveyors 
from  holding  seats  in  the  Legislature,  and  taxing  land, 
which  had  been  passed  by  the  preceding  Legislature,  were 
repealed.  A contract  was  made  with  Nathaniel  Pope  for 
revising  the  laws.  Acts  were  passed  incorporating  Shaw- 
neetown  and  authorizing  the  payment  of  $50  for  every  hos- 
tile Indian  killed.  An  adjournment  was  taken  December 
24  to  the  4th  of  September,  1815. 

On  the  reassembling  of  this  body,  agreeably  to  adjourn- 
ment, Jarvis  Hazleton,  of  Randolph,  appeared  as  the  Rep- 
resentative instead  of  Gilbreath,  and  John  G.  Lofton,  of 
Madison,  in  place  of  Owen  Evans.  Daniel  P.  Cook  was 
elected  Clerk.  The  duration  of  this  session  was  thirty- 
nine  days.  Thirty-eight  acts  were  passed,  one  of  which 
was  to  tax  each  billiard  table  $150  per  annum,  and  another 
to  punish  counterfeiters  of  bank-bills  by  fine  and  whipping, 
and  if  the  offender  was  unable  to  pay  the  fine,  he  was  to 
be  sold  by  the  Sheriff  at  public  vendue  to  satisfy  the 
judgment. 

Third  Territorial  Legislature — 1816-17. 

The  third  Territorial  Legislature  convened  December  2, 
1816,  and  was  composed  of  the  following  members: 

Council. 

Pierre  Menard,  Randolph.  John  Grammar,  Johnson. 
John  G.  Lofton,  Madison,  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Gallatin. 
Abraham  Amos,  St.  Clair. 

House  of  Representatives. 

George  Fisher,  Randolph.  Joseph  Palmer,  Johnson. 

C.  R.  Matheny,  St.  Clair.  Seth  Gard,  Edwards, 

Wm.  H.  Bradsby,  St.  Clair.  Samuel  O’Melveny,  Pope. 
Nathan  Davis,  Jackson. 

Pierre  Menard  was  elected  President  of  the  Council, 
and  Joseph  Conway  Secretary.  In  the  House,  George 
Fisher  was  elected  Speaker,  and  Daniel  P.  Cook,  who  had 
become  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Clerk. 


6 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


This  Legislature  was  in  session  from  December  2,  1816, 
to  January  14,  1817,  when  it  took  a recess  to  December  1, 
following.  There  were  twenty-eight  acts  passed  at  this 
session.  One  of  the  important  acts  was  to  establish  a 
bank  at  Shawneetown,  with  a capital  of  $300,000.  The 
Indiana  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  prohibiting  non- 
resident lawyers  from  practicing  in  the  courts  of  that 
State,  and  in  retaliation  an  act  was  passed  at  this  session 
imposing  a fine  of  $200  upon  any  Indiana  lawyer  found 
practicing  in  the  Territory,  and  the  same  act  imposed  a 
fine  of  $500  on  any  judge  who,  knowingly,  allowed  an 
Indiana  lawyer  to  practice  in  his  court. 

The  second  session  convened  December  1,  1817,  agree- 
ably to  adjournment.  Willis  Hargrave,  of  White,  appeared 
as  Representative  instead  of  Nathan  Davis,  and  M.  S. 
Davis,  of  Gallatin,  in  place  of  Samuel  O’Melveny.  Fifty 
acts  were  passed,  notably  among  which  were  acts  estab- 
lishing banks  at  Kaskaskia,  Edwardsville  and  Cairo,  and 
another  incorporating  medical  societies  at  Kaskaskia  and 
Carmi.  An  adjournment  took  place  January  12,  1818, 
which  terminated  Territorial  legislation. 

Quite  a number  of  the  members  of  the  Territorial  Leg- 
islature became  eminent  in  the  councils  of  the  State. 
Thomas  C.  Browne  was  twice  elected  to  the  Supreme 
bench,  and  Pierre  Menard  was  Lieutenant-Governor  under 
Gov.  Bond.  Mr.  Menard  was  a Frenchman,  and  was  con- 
sidered an  able  and  excellent  man.  The  county  of  Menard 
was  named  in  honor  of  him,  and  a kind  friend,  in  the  per- 
son of  Charles  P.  Chouteau,  of  St.  Louis,  recently  presented 
to  Illinois  $10,000  for  the  erection  of  a monument  to  his 
memory,  which  is  to  be  placed  in  the  grounds  of  the  new 
State  House.*  Ford,  in  his  history,  relates  this  anec- 
dote of  Menard  : While  presiding  over  the  Senate,  an  act 
passed  that  body  which  proposed  to  make  the  notes  of  the 
State  b.anks  receivable  at  the  land  office.  Menard,  in  put- 
ting the  question,  said : “ Gentlemen  of  de  Senate,  it  is 

*The  bronze  statue,  representing  Menard  as  trading  with  an  Indian,  was  placed  upon  the  pedestal 

May  22,  1886. 


APPENDIX. 


7 


moved  and  seconded  dat  de  notes  of  dis  bank  be  made 
land-office  money.  All  in  favor  of  dat  motion  say  aye ; 
all  against  it  say  no.  It  is  decided  in  de  affirmative.  And 
now,  gentlemen,  I bet  you  one  hundred  dollar  he  never  be 
made  land-office  money.” 

Daniel  P.  Cook  represented  the  State  in  Congress  from 
1820  to  1827,  and  discharged,  with  great  ability,  his  duties  as 
a member  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  and  was  con- 
sidered by  such  men  as  Calhoun  and  Judge  McLean  as  a 
man  of  remarkable  talents.  In  1824,  when  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  elected  President  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, he  cast  the  vote  of  Illinois  for  Adams,  notwithstand- 
ing the  majority  of  the  people  of  his  State  had  voted  for 
General  Jackson. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ADMISSION  AS  A STATE, 


Constitutional  Convention— Peculiarities  of  the  Constitution— Boundaries 
of  the  State. 


Congress  passed  an  act  April  18,  1818,  enabling  the 
people  of  the  Territory  to  form  a State  Constitution  pre- 
paratory to  admission  into  the  Union.  The  election  for 
delegates  was  authorized  to  take  place  on  the  first  Mon- 
day of  the  ensuing  July,  and  the  convention  to  meet  on 
the  first  Monday  in  August,  following.  There  were  then 
but  fourteen  counties  in  the  Territory,  and  the  enabling 
act  fixed  the  number  of  delegates  at  thirty-three.  The 
convention  assembled  agreeably  to  law,  and  was  composed 
of  the  following  delegates : 

Jesse  B.  Thomas,  John  Messinger,  James  Lemen,  Jr., 
George  Fisher,  Elias  Kent  Kane,  Benjamin  Stephenson, 
Joseph  Borough,  Abraham  Prickett,  Michael  Jones, 


8 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Leonard  White,  Adolphus  F.  Hubbard,  Hezekiah  West,  Wm. 
McFatridge,  Seth  Gard,  Levi  Compton,  Willis  Hargrave, 
Wm.  McHenry,  Caldwell  Cams,  Enoch  Moore,  Samuel 
O’Melveny,  Hamlet  Ferguson,  Conrad  Will,  James  Hall,  Jr., 
Joseph  Kitchell,  Edward  N.  Cullom,  Thomas  Kirkpatrick, 
Samuel  G.  Morse,  William  Echols,  John  Whiteaker,  An- 
drew Bankson,  Isham  Harrison,  Thomas  Boberts. 

The  convention  organized  by  the  election  of  Jesse  B. 
Thomas  President,  and  William  C.  Greenup  Secretary. 

The  constitution  was  adopted  by  the  convention,  August 
26,  but  was  not  submitted  to  a vote  of  the  people,  as 
subsequent  constitutions  have  been.  There  were  but  eight 
articles.  We  note  some  of  the  peculiar  features  of 
the  instrument : The  salary  of  the  Governor  was 

fixed  at  $1,000;  Secretary  of  State,  $600;  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  $1,000.  The  mode  of  voting 
was  to  be  viva  voce  until  the  General  Assembly  should 
change  it;  Judges  of  inferior  courts  were  to  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behavior;  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  were  to  be  removed  from  office  on  the  request  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  house  of  the  General 
Assembly;  every  person  who  had  been  bound  to  service 
by  contract  or  indenture,  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  Illinois 
Territory,  were  held  to  a specific  performance  of  their 
contracts  or  indentures,  and  negroes  and  mulattoes  who 
had  been  registered  in  conformity  with  the  aforesaid  laws, 
to  serve  out  the  time  appointed  by  said  laws;  and  the 
children  born  to  such  persons  after  that  time  were  to  be 
free,  the  males  at  the  age  of  21  years,  the  females  at  the 
age  of  18  years,  and  every  child  born  of  indentured  pa- 
rents was  to  be  registered  with  the  clerk  of  the  county  in 
which  they  resided  within  six  months  after  birth. 

Congress  fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  State  as  follows : 
“Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  river;  thence 
up  the  same,  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana,  to  the  northwest 


APPENDIX. 


9 


corner  of  said  State ; thence  east,  with  the  line  of 
said  State,  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan ; thence  north, 
along  the  middle  of  said  lake,  to  north  latitude  42°  and 
30';  thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river  to  its 
confluence  with  the  Ohio  river,  and  thence  up  the  latter 
river,  along  its  northwestern  shore,  to  the  place  of  begin- 
ning: Provided,  that  this  State  shall  exercise  such  juris- 
diction upon  the  Ohio  river  as  she  is  now  entitled,  or 
such  as  may  hereafter  be  agreed  upon  by  this  State  and 
the  State  of  Kentucky.” 

The  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union  December  3, 
1818. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  when  the  people  of 
Illinois  petitioned  Congress  for  admission  into  the 
Union  as  a State,  that  the  northern  boundary  line 
did  not  include  the  port  of  Chicago.  Our  delegate  in 
Congress,  Mr.  Pope,  discovered  this  fact,  and  secured 
the  assent  of  Congress  to  a change  in  the  northern 
line,  which  gave  us  the  present  boundary,  and  which 
made  the  great  city  of  Chicago  a part  of  Illinois.  The 
full  significance  of  this  foresight  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Pope  may  be  better  realized  when  we  state  that  Wis- 
consin afterward  claimed,  under  the  ordinance  of  1787, 
fourteen  of  the  northern  counties  of  Illinois. 

There  were  some  peculiar  features  about  the 
first  Constitution.  It  provided  that  the  Governor  and 
Lieutenant-Governer  should  have  been  citizens  of  the 
United  States  for  thirty  years  before  their  election, 
but  in  the  schedule  it  was  provided  that  any  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  who  had  resided  in  the  State  for 
two  years,  might  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor. This  provision  was  made,  says  Ford, 
to  enable  Pierre  Menard,  a Frenchman,  who  was  an 
old  settler  in  the  country,  but  who  had  not  been  nat- 
uralized until  a year  or  so  before,  to  become  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  We  have  spoken  elsewhere  of  a peculiar 


10 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


provision  respecting  the  question  of  slavery.  The 
legislatures  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  Territories,  notwith- 
standing the  Ordinance  of  1787  had  dedicated  the 
Territory  to  freedom,  had  passed  laws  allowing  a quali- 
fied introduction  of  slavery.  It  had  been  enacted  that 
immigrants  to  the  country  might  bring  their  slaves 
with  them,  and  if  the  slaves,  being  of  lawful  age  to 
consent,  would  go  before  the  clerk  of  a county  and 
voluntarily  sign  an  indenture  to  serve  their  masters 
for  a term  of  years,  they  should  be  held  to  a spe- 
cific performance  of  their  contracts.  If  they  refused  to 
give  such  consent,  their  masters  might  remove  them 
out  of  the  Territory  in  sixty  days.  The  children  of 
such  slaves,  being  under  the  age  of  consent,  might  be 
taken  before  an  officer  and  registered,  and  then  they 
w^ere  bound  by  those  laws  to  serve  their  masters  un- 
til they  were  thirty -two  years  old.  Many  slaves  were 
held  under  these  laws,  and  it  is  a fact  that  there  was, 
in  different  localities  in  this  State,  tacitly,  slavery  up 
to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  abolishing  the  in- 
stitution. When  the  State  was  admitted,  a code  of 
“black  laws,”  which  are  referred  to  at  length  in  an- 
other chapter,  became  the  law  of  the  land  as  to  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  negro. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT-1818-22. 


The  first  State  government  began  October  6,  1818,  with 
the  following  officers : Shadrach  Bond,  of  St.  Clair,  Gov- 
ernor; Pierre  Menard,  of  Randolph,  Lieutenant-Governor; 
Elias  Kent  Kane,  of  Randolph,  Secretary  of  State;  Elijah 
C.  Berry,  of  Fayette,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts ; John 


APPENDIX. 


11 


Thomas,  of  St.  Clair,  Treasurer;  Daniel  P.  Cook,  of  Ran- 
dolph, Attorney-General. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1818,  the  Governor  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor were  the  only  State  officers  who  were 
elected  directly  by  the  people.  The  others  were  chosen 
from  time  to  time  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Gov.  Bond  assumed  the  duties  of  his  office  October  6. 
One  of  his  first  recommendations  to  the  General  Assem- 


bly was  for  the  construction  of  a canal  connecting  Lake 
Michigan  with  the  Mississippi  river. 

The  first  General  Assembly  convened  October  5,  1818, 
and  adjourned  October  18,  and  convened  again  January 


4,  1819,  and  adjourned  March  31.  It  was  composed  of 
the  following  members: 

Senate. 


Lewis  Barker,  Pope. 

George  Caldwell,  Madison. 
Thomas  Cox,  Union. 

Willis  Hargrave,  White. 
Alexander  Jamison,  Monroe. 
Martin  Jones,  Bond. 
Michael  Jones,  Gallatin. 


William  Kinney,  St.  Clair. 
Joseph  Kitcheli,  Crawford. 
Zariah  Maddux,  Washington, 
John  McFerron,  Randolph. 
Thos.  Roberts,  Johnson. 
Guy  W.  Smith,  Edwards. 
Conrad  Will,  Jackson. 


House  of  Representatives. 


Wm.  Alexander,  Monroe. 
Levi  Compton,  Edwards. 

J.  G.  Daimwood,  Gallatin. 
Jesse  Echols,  Union. 
Elijah  Ewing,  Franklin. 
Green  B.  Field,  Pope. 
Jes3e  Gregg,  Jackson. 
Robert  Hamilton,  Pope. 
John  Howard,  Madison. 

A.  F.  Hubbard,  Gallatin. 
E.  Humphreys,  Randolph. 
Francis  Kirkpatrick,  Bond. 
John  Marshall,  Gallatin. 
Sam’l  McClintock,  Gallatin. 
Wm.  McHenry,  White. 


John  Messenger,  St.  Clair. 
Risdon  Moore,  St.  Clair. 
William  Nash,  White. 
Alexander  Phillips,  White. 
David  Porter,  Crawford. 
Abraham  Prickett,  Madison. 
Scott  Riggs,  Crawford. 

D.  S.  Swearingen,  Washingt’n. 
James  D.  Thomas,  St.  Clair. 
Henry  Utter,  Edwards. 
Samuel  Walker,  Randolph. 
John  Whiteaker,  Union, 
Samuel  Whitesides,  Madison. 
Isaac  D.  Wilcox,  Johnson. 


Pierre  Menard  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate, 
and  William  C.  Greenup  was  elected  Secretary.  In  the 
House  John  Messinger  was  elected  Speaker,  and  Thomas 
Reynolds  Clerk. 


12  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

There  is  quite  a contrast  between  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  present  time  and  then,  the  whole  number  of 
members  of  this  body  being  eight  less  than  now  compose 
the  present  Senate,  and  we*  print  this  roster  more  with  a 
view  of  showing  the  contrast  as  to  size  between  the  re- 
spective General  Assemblies. 

The  time  of  this  General  Assembly  was  occupied  in 
passing  laws  necessary  to  put  the  machinery  of  State  in 
working  order.  The  population  was  sparse,  and  there 
was  no  great  demand  for  legislation. 

Ninian  Edwards  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas  were  chosen 
United  States  Senators  at  this  session. 

In  1819,  R.  K.  McLaughlin  succeeded  Thomas  as  Treas- 
urer, and  William  Mears  succeeded  Cook  as  Attorney- 
General. 

An  act  was  approved  February  4,  1819,  making 
applicable  to  Illinois,  the  common  law  of  England, 
all  statutes  or  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  made 
in  aid  of  the  common  law  prior  to  the  fourth  year  of 
;the  reign  of  King  James  I.,  excepting  the  second  section 
of  the  sixth  chapter  of  XLIII.  Elizabeth,  the  eighth 
chapter  XIII.  Elizabeth  and  ninth  chapter  XXXVII. 
Henry  VIII,  which  were  of  a general  nature  and  not 
local  to  that  Kingdom.  They  ivere  to  remain  in  full 
force  until  repealed  by  legislative  authority.  The 
early  laws  of  Illinois  ivere  borrowed  from  the  statutes 
of  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  and  remained  the  law  of 
the  land  until  the  broad  ideas  of  the  free  north 
obtained  the  mastery. 

The  wants  of  the  people  were  few  and  simple.  The 
instruction  in  the  schools  was  confined  to  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic  and  it  was  not  thought  nec- 
essary that  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  should  be  a 
scholar.  What  he  lacked  in  information  he  made  up 
in  violent  action.  The  preacher  of  that  day,  Ford 
tells  us,  drew  vivid  pictures  of  the  blessedness  of 
heaven  and  the  awful  torments  of  hell.  Nevertheless, 


APPENDIX. 


13 


these  first  .preachers  were  of  incalculable  benefit  to 
the  country.  They  preached  without  charge,  work- 
ing week  days  to  support  themselves,  and  to  them 
are  we  indebted  in  a great  measure  for  the  Christian 
character  Illinois  has  sustained  from  her  first  organi- 
zation as  a government. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CAPITALS. 


Kaskaskia— Vandalia—  Springfield— Population  of  Kaskaskia  in  1820— Popu- 
• lation  now— An  Island  of  the  Mississippi— Towns  which  Wanted  the 
Capital— When  Eemoved  from  Yandalia. 


Illinois  has  had  three  capitals — Kaskaskia,  Yandalia 
and  Springfield.  When  Kaskaskia  became  the  seat  of 
government  it  was  also  the  county  seat  of  Randolph 
county.  There  were  then  but  two  counties  in  the  Territory, 
Randolph  and  St.  Clair.  The  first  session  of  the  Terri- 
torial Legislature  was  convened  November  25,  1812 — and 
the  first  Legislature  of  the  State,  October  5,  1818. 

In  1820,  the  seat  of  government  was  removed  to  Yan- 
dalia; there  were  then  nineteen  counties.  The  first  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  convened  there  December  4,  1820. 
The  Capital  was  removed  to  Springfield  in  1839,  at  which 
time  there  were  seventy-two  counties.  The  first  session 
of  the  Legislature  convened  there  December  9,  1839. 

When  the  joint  resolution  removing  the  capital  to 
Springfield  passed  the  General  Assembly,  in  1838,  on  the 
first  ballot,  there  were  eighteen  towns  voted  for  as  being 
the  proper  place  for  the  capital.  On  the  first  ballot 
Springfield  received  35,  Vandalia  16,  Alton  15,  Jackson- 
ville 14,  Decatur  4,  Carrollton  3,  Illiopolis  3,  Bloomington 


14 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


2,  Mt.  Carmel  2,  Paris  1,  Palestine  1,  Grafton  1,  Shaw- 
neetown  1,  Pittsfield  1,  Kaskaskia  1,  Shelbyville  1,  Hills- 
boro 1,  Caledonia  1,  and  the  geographical  centre  3.  On 
the  fourth  and  last  ballot  Springfield  received  78  votes, 
Vandalia  16,  Jacksonville  11,  Alton  6,  Peoria  8,  Illiopolis 

3,  Hillsboro  1,  Shawneetown  1,  Bloomington  1,  Essex  1, 
Grafton  1,  and  Caledonia  1. 

Some  earnest  efforts  have  been  made  at  different  times 
to  remove  the  capital  from  Springfield  to  Peoria  and  else- 
where, but  the  building  of  the  new  State  House,  which 
will  cost,  when  completed,  something  over  $3,500,000,  has 
doubtless  silenced  the  serious  consideration  of  this  question 
for  generations  to  come. 

Of  Kaskaskia,  Peck’s  Gazateer  of  1834  says : 

“ The  early  French  explorers  made  one  of  their  first 
settlements  at  this  spot,  shortly  after  the  visit  of  LaSalle, 
in  1683;  and  so  long  as  the  French  continued  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Illinois  country,  Kaskaskia  was  its  capital,  and 
was  flourishing  and  populous.  In  1721,  when  Charlevoix 
visited  it,  there  existed  a Jesuit  college.  In  1763,  when 
the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi  was  ceded  by  France  to 
Great  Britain,  it  contained  about  one  hundred  families.” 

In  1820,  Kaskaskia  attained  its  greatest  population.  The 
United  States  census  of  that  year  reckoned  the  number 
of  inhabitants  at  7,000.  Soon  after  the  removal  of  the 
capital  to  Vandalia,  which  occurred  during  the  year  1820, 
the  population  of  Kaskaskia  began  to  decline  rapidly. 
The  census  of  1880  showed  but  305  inhabitants.  On  the 
18th  of  April,  1881,  the  Mississippi  and  Kaskaskia  rivers 
were  united,  and  Kaskaskia  became  an  island  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, since  which  time  its  population  has  been  reduced 
to  less  than  150,  and  but  a few  years  at  most  will  pass 
before  all  that  remains  of  this  historic  place  will  mingle 
with  the  debris  of  the  father  of  waters.  It  is  worthy  of 
note,  however,  to  say  that  the  house  where  the  first  Ter- 
ritorial Legislature  met,  is  still  in  a good  state  of  pre- 
servation. And  it  is  lamentable  that  so  noted  a place 


APPENDIX. 


15 


in  the  history  of  the  country  as  Kaskaskia  can  not  be 
preserved. 

Yandalia  has  had  a more  fortunate  career.  While  the 
town  has  not  grown  to  a great  city,  yet  it  is  one  of  the 
brightest  and  most  pleasant  in  the  State,  and  is  now 
improving  rapidly.  There  are  quite  a number  of  substan- 
tial and  flourishing  manufactories,  and  two  well-conducted 
newspapers — Democrat  and  Union.  The  old  State  House 
is  intact,  and  is  now  used  as  a court  house. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SECOND  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY-1820-22, 

In  1820,  the  seat  of  government  was  removed  from  Kas- 
kaskia to  Yandalia,  and  the  second  General  Assembly 
convened  there  December  4,  and  adjourned  February  13, 
1821.  Lieut. -Gov.  Menard  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
James  Turner  was  elected  Secretary.  John  McLean  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Thomas  Reynolds 
Clerk. 

Gov.  Bond’s  administration  closed  in  December,  1822. 
It  had  been  faithful  and  blameless,  and  he  retired  with 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  people.  Prior  to  his 
election  as  Governor  he  had  been  a delegate  to  Congress, 
and  held  the  office  of  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys,  at  Kas- 
kaskia. When  Gov.  Bond  was  a delegate  to  Congress,  it 
is  related  of  him  that  he  and  his  wife  made  the  trip  from 
Illinois  to  Washington  on  horseback.  Mr.  Bond  had  six 
children — Thomas  S.,  Emily,  Julia  R.,  Mary  A.,  Isabella 
F.s  and  Benjamin  N.,  but  all  are  dead  except  Dr.  Benja- 
min N.  Bond,  who  is  a highly  respected  citizen  of  Stan- 
bury,  Missouri.  Julia  R.  Bond  married  Col.  Frank 
40 


16 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Swanwick,  of  Randolph  county;  Mary  A.,  Joseph  B.  Holmes, 
a merchant  at  Chester;  Isabella  F.,-  James  P.  Craig,  of 
Chester.  Quite  a number  of  the  grand*  children  of  Gov. 
Bond  reside  at  Chester,  while  others  make  their  home  on 
the  Pacific  slope,  and  others  still,  in  the  sunny  South. 

Gov.  Bond  died  April  12,  1882,  at  Kaskaskia,  where  he 
was  buried,  but  in  April,  1881,  the  remains  of  himself 
and  wife  were  removed  to  Chester,  and  consigned  to  the 
same  vault,  over  which  the  State  has  erected  a monument, 
which  bears  this  inscription : 

“ In  memory  of  Shadrach  Bond, 

The  first  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illinois ; 

Born  at  Fredericktown,  Maryland,  November  24,  A.D.  1778. 
Died  at  his  residence  near  Kaskaskia,  April  12,  A.D.  1832. 
In  recognition  of  his  valuable  public  services, 
this  monument  was  erected  by  the  State  A.D.  1883. 
Governor  Bond  filled  many  offices  of  trust  and  importance, 
all  with  integrity  and  honor.” 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OUR  FIRST  BANKING, 


The  first  bank  established  in  the  Territory  was  at  Shaw- 
neetown ; it  was  chartered  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
1813,  and  limited  to  twenty  years ; the  capital  could  not 
exceed  $300,000,  and  the  Territory  was  authorized  to  sub- 
scribe one-third  of  the  stock.  John  Marshall,  Daniel  Ap- 
person,  Samuel  Hays,  Leonard  White  and  Samuel  R. 
Campbell  were  constituted  Commissioners  to  take  sub- 
scriptions. In  1819,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature 
chartering  the  State  Bank  of  Illinois,  for  twenty-five  years, 
with  a capital  limited  to  $4,000,000;  the  State  was  to  take 


APPENDIX. 


IT 


$2,000,000  of  the  stock.  The  bank  was  located  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  subscription  books  were  opened  at  Kaskaskia, 
Golconda,  Edwardsville,  Harrisonville,  Belleville,  Vienna, 
Carlyle,  Palmyra,  Carmi,  Shawneetown,  Palestine,  Jones- 
boro and  Brownsville.  The  stock  could  be  paid  in  State 
warrants. 

In  1821,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  chartering  the 
State  Bank  of  Illinois  at  Vandalia,  with  branches  at  Ed- 
wardsville, Brownsville,  Shawneetown,  and  at  the  county 
seat  of  Edwards  county.  The  act  provided  for  issuing 
$300,000  in  notes,  on  the  credit  of  the  State.  The  State 
Treasurer  was  authorized  to  deposit  the  public  moneys 
with  the  bank,  and  contractors  were  to  be  paid  in  its 
notes.  Congress  was  memorialized  to  authorize  the  land- 
offices  to  receive  the  notes  of  the  bank  in  payment  for 
lands.  The  charter  of  the  bank  established  in  1819  was 
repealed  by  this  act. 

As  to  the  character  and  operations  of  this  institution. 
Ford’s  History  has  this  to  say: 

“ It  was  founded  without  money  and  wholly  on  the  credit 
of  the  State.  It  was  authorized  to  issue  one,  two,  three, 
five,  ten  and  twenty-doll  ar  notes,  in  the  likeness  of  bank 
bills,  bearing  two  per  cent,  annual  interest,  and  payable  by 
the  State  in  ten  years.  A principal  bank  was  established 
at  Vandalia,  and  four  or  five  branches  in  other  places; 
the  Legislature  elected  all  the  directors  and  officers,  a 
large  number  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Legislature, 
and  all  of  them  professional  politicians.  The  bank  was 
directed  by  law  to  lend  its  bills  to  the  people,  to  the  amount 
of  one  hundred  dollars,  on  personal  security ; and  upon  the 
security  of  mortgages  upon  land  for  a greater  sum.  These 
bills  were  to  be  receivable  in  payment  of  all  State  and 
county  taxes,  and  for  all  costs  and  fees,  and  salaries  of 
public  officers ; and  if  a creditor  refused  to  endorse  on  his 
execution  his  willingness  to  receive  them  in  payment  of 
debt,  the  debtor  could  replevy  or  stay  its  collection  for 
three  years,  by  giving  personal  security. 

“ In  the  summer  of  1821,  the  new  bank  went  into  oper- 
ation. Every  man  who  could  get  an  indorser  borrowed 
his  hundred  dollars.  The  directors,  it  is  believed,  were 


18 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


all  politicians ; and  either  were  then,  or  expected  to  be, 
candidates  for  office.  Lending  to  everybody,  and  refusing 
none,  was  the  surest  road  to  popularity.  Accordingly, 
$300,000  of  the  new  money  was  soon  lent,  without  much 
attention  to  security  or  care  for  eventual  payment.  It 
first  fell  twenty-five  cents,  then  fifty,  and  then  seventy  cents 
below  par.  And  as  the  bills  of  the  Ohio  and  Kentucky 
banks  had  driven  all  other  money  out  of  the  State,  so 
this  new  issue  effectually  kept  it  out.  Such  a total  ab- 
sence was  there  of  the  silver  coins,  that  it  became  utterly 
impossible,  in  the  course  of  trade,  to  make  small  change. 
The  people,  from  necessity,  were  compelled  to  cut  the  new 
bills  into  two  pieces,  so  as  to  make  two  halves  of  a dollar. 
This  again  further  aided  to  keep  out  even  the  smallest 
silver  coin.  For  about  four  years,  there  was  no  other  kind 
of  money  but  this  uncurrent  State  bank  paper.  In  the 
meantime,  very  few  persons  pretended  to  pay  their  debts 
to  the  bank.  More  than  half  of  those  who  had  borrowed 
considered  what  they  had  gotten  from  it  as  so  much  clear 
gain,  and  never  intended  to  pay  it  from  the  first. 

“ By  the  year  1824,  it  became  impossible  to  carry  on 
the  State  government  with  such  money.  The  State  reve- 
nue varied  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  thousand  dollars  per 
annum,  which  was  raised  almost  exclusively  by  a tax  on 
lands,  then  owned  by  non-residents,  in  the  military  tract 
lying  northwest  of  the  Illinois  river.  The  resident  land  tax 
in  other  parts  of  the  State  was  paid  into  the  county  treas- 
uries. The  annual  expenditures  of  the  State  government 
were  about  equal  to  the  annual  revenues;  and  as  the 
taxes  were  collected  in  the  bills  of  the  State  bank,  the 
Legislature,  to  carry  on  the  government,  was  compelled  to 
provide  for  its  own  pay,  and  that  of  all  the  public  officers, 
and  the  expenses  of  the  government,  by  taking  and  giving 
enough  of  the  depreciated  bills  to  equal  in  value  the  sums 
required  to  be  paid.  So  that  each  member,  instead  of  re- 
ceiving three  dollars  per  day,  received  nine  dollars  per  day. 
The  salaries  of  the  Governor  and  Judges,  and  all  other 
expenses,  were  paid  in  the  same  way.  So  that,  if  $30,000 
was  required  to  pay  the  expenses  of  government  for  a 
year,  under  this  system  it  took  $90,000  to  do  it.  And 
thus,  by  the  financial  aid  of  an  insolvent  bank,  the  legis- 
lature managed  to  treble  the  public  expenses,  without  in- 
creasing the  revenues  or  amount  of  service  to  the  State. 
In  fact,  this  State  lost  two-thirds  of  its  revenue,  and  ex- 
pended three  times  the  amount  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
government.  In  the  course  of  ten  years  it  must  have  lost 


APPENDIX. 


19 


more  than  $ 150, 000,  by  receiving  depreciated  currency; 
$150,000  more  by  paying  it  out,  and  $100,000  of  the  loans, 
which  were  never  repaid  by  the  borrowers,  and  which  the 
State  had  to  make  good,  by  receiving  the  bills  of  the  bank 
for  taxes,  by  funding  some  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  and 
paying  a part  in  cash  in  the  year  1831. ” 

The  result  of  all  this  was  that  the  banks  became  insol- 
vent, and  everywhere  hard  times  prevailed,  and  in  1813, 
the  Legislature  passed  an  act  compelling  the  banks  to  go 
into  liquidation,  and  here  ended  the  first  trials  of  the 
people  with  reckless  banking. 

First  Canvass  before  the  People  for  Governor. 

In  18*22,  there  were  no  distinctive  parties  in  Illinois,  and 
the  race  for  Governor  was  free  for  all.  The  candidates 
were  Joseph  Phillips,  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  Edward  Coles,  Register  of  the  Land  office  at  Ed- 
wardsville;  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  James  B.  Moore,  General  of  the  State 
Militia.  The  State  was  then  very  sparsely  settled.  The 
election  took  place  in  August,  and  the  total  vote  of  all 
the  candidates  was  but  6,309.  Coles  received  2,810 ; Phil- 
lips, 2,760;  Browne,  2,543;  Moore,  522.  Coles’  plurality 
over  Phillips  was  but  50.  There  is  a striking  contrast 
between  the  vote  of  the  State  then  and  now.  In  the  elec- 
tion of  1884,  the  total  vote  for  State  officers  was  652,255. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  were  two  candidates  for 
the  office  of  Governor  from  the  Supreme  Court.  Since 
then,  however,  the  Supreme  Court  has  been  tacitly 
divorced  from  the  politics  of  the  State,  out  of  deference  to 
to  an  unmistakable  expression  of  public  sentiment  in  favor 
of  a pure,  unpartizan  judiciary. 


20 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


CHAPTER  VII, 

STATE  GOVERNMENT— 1822-26, 


The  second  State  Government  was  inaugurated  Decem- 
ber 5,  1822,  with  Edward  Coles,  of  Madison,  as  Governor ; 
Adolphus  F.  Hubbard,  of  Gallatin,  Lieutenant-Governor; 
Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  of  Madison,  Secretary  of  State; 
Elijah  C.  Berry,  of  Fayette,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts; 
B.  K.  McLaughlin,  of  Fayette,  Treasurer;  James  Turney, 
of  Washington,  Attorney-General. 

The  Third  General  Assembly  convened  December  2,  1822, 
and  adjourned  February  11,  1823.  Lieut. -Gov.  Hubbard 
presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Thomas  Lippincott  wTas 
elected  Secretary.  William  M.  Alexander  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Charles  Dunn  Clerk. 

This  was  a stormy  session.  In  the  campaign,  in  which 
Gov.  Coles  was  elected,  the  question  of  making  Illinois  a 
slave  State  had  been  broadly  mooted,  and  a pro-slavery 
Legislature  had  been  elected.  In  his  inaugural  address 
Gov.  Coles  took  strong  ground  against  slavery,  which 
arrayed  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  against  him,  but 
of  the  final  outcome  of  the  controversy  we  speak  at  length 
in  a subsequent  chapter. 

Gov.  Coles  was  fearless  in  the  discharge  of  his  public 
duties,  and  although  violently  opposed  during  his 
administration  by  the  pro-slavery  men,  he  came  out 
of  the  contest  which  sought  to  make  Illinois  a slave 
State,  more  than  conqueror. 


APPENDIX. 


21 


The  reports  of  the  Auditor  and  Treasurer  for  the 
fiscal  years  of  1821  and  1822  were  duly  presented, 
the  two  containing  but  twelve  pages  of  printed  matter. 
There  was  shown  to  be  a balance  of  $17,720.13  in 
the  treasury  on  the  27th  of  December,  1822. 

An  act  was  passed  at  this  session  imposing  a fine 
of  $20  upon  dealers  in  spirituous  liquors  for  selling 
liquor  to  Indians.  The  price  of  drinks  was  fixed  in 
the  same  act  at  15  cents  each.  The  law-makers  of 
that  period  evidently  had  a higher  regard  for  the 
morals  of  the  red  men  than  for  those  of  the  white. 
Among  other  acts  was  one  making  the  Sangamon 
River  a navigable  stream. 

Early  Salt  Making. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  of  the  pioneer  his- 
tory of  the  State  is  salt  making  in  Gallatin  county.  Tra- 
dition says  that  the  salt  springs  near  Equality  were  ex- 
tensively worked  by  the  prehistoric  race  of  the  continent, 
long  before  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  had  penetrated  the  wilds 
of  Illinois.  The  evaporating  kettles  used  were  found  at 
Negro  Salt  Springs  and  at  Salt  Lick,  near  Equality.  The 
kettles  were  between  three  and  four  feet  in  diameter,  made 
of  clay  and  pounded  shells,  moulded  in  basket-work  or 
cloth,  which  left  the  impression  on  the  outside  of  the  kettle 
and  looked  like  artistic  hand-work.  Little  or  nothing  is 
known  as  to  the  length  of  time  the  springs  were  worked 
by  the  Indians,  but  Congress  gave  attention  to  the  subject 
in  1812.  On  the  12th  of  February  of  that  year,  an  act  was 
passed  setting  apart  six  miles  square  of  land  to  support 
the  Equality  Salines.  Under  Congressional  authority  the 
springs  were  leased  to  parties  to  work.  The  labor  was 
nearly  all  performed  by  slaves  brought  from  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  of  which  reference  is  made  in  Article  six,  Sec- 
tion two,  of  the  Constitution  of  1818.  Many  of  these  ne- 
groes, by  extra  work,  saved  sufficient  money  to  buy  their 
freedom,  and  these  were  the  negroes  from  whom  descended 


22 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  large  number  that  resided  in  Gallatin  and  Saline 
counties  before  the  war  for  the  Union.  Salt,  under  the 
Government  leases,  sold  at  $5  per  bushel,  and  found  a 
ready  market  in  Indiana,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Alabama 
and  Missouri.  It  was  transported  in  keel-boats  up  the 
Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers,  and  to  St.  Louis  in  the 
same  manner.  The  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  States 
would  often  come  hundreds  of  miles  upon  horseback  and 
carry  away  the  salt  on  pack-saddles. 

In  1818,  Congress  gave  these  lands  to  Illinois,  and  the 
State  continued  the  leasing  system,  furnishing  the  kettles. 
Among  the  lessees  we  call  to  mind  Leonard  White,  Timo- 
thy Guard,  Chalin  Guard,  E.  D.  Taylor  and  John  Cren- 
shaw. The  last  lease  made  was  to  Mr.  Crenshaw,  Decem- 
ber 9,  1840;  it  was  for  ten  years.  He  became  very 
wealthy,  and  at  one  time  exercised  a large  political  influ- 
ence in  that  portion  of  the  State.  He  was.  a Demo- 
crat of  the  Jackson  school,  and  his  word  was  esteemed 
as  political  law.  by  very  many  people. 

Under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  February  28, 
1847,  the  lands  were  sold,  and  the  school  trustees  of  T.  9, 
E.  9,  bought  that  portion  containing  the  salt  wells.  In 
1852,  the  lands  were  sold  at  public  auction,  and  in  1854, 
Castles  & Temple  took  charge  of  the  property  and  devel- 
oped it  by  an  improved  system  which  had  its  origin  in 
France,  and  through  this  system  produced  two  hundred 
barrels  of  salt  per  day.  As  late  as  1870,  it  was  no  uncom- 
mon thing  to  see  from  three  to  four  wagons  drawn  by 
from  four  to  six  mules,  on  the  road  between  Equality 
and  Shawneetown,  laden  with  salt  for  the  various  markets 
of  the  South  and  West.  But  in  1878,  Castles  & Tem- 
ple, in  consequence  of  the  panic,  over-production  and 
ruinous  prices,  closed  the  works,  and  engaged  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  coke  and  mining,  on  the  same  property. 


APPENDIX. 


23 


Governor  Coles  on  Titles. 

One  of  the  most  noted  ‘of  the  Governors  of  Illinois,  was 
Edward  Coles,  who  was  as  modest  as  he  was  able,  as  the 
following  letter,  which  we  find  in  “Washburne’s  Sketch  of 
Edward  Coles, ” addressed  to  the  editors  of  the  Illinois 
Intelligencer , will  show  : 

“ Yandalia,  Dec.  10,  1822. 

“Gentlemen: — Our  State  constitution  gives  to  the  per- 
son exercising  the  functions  of  the  Executive  the  appella- 
tion of  Governor — a title  which  is  specific,  intelligible  and 
republican,  and  amply  sufficient  to  denote  the  dignity  of 
the  office.  In  your  last  paper  you  have  noticed  me  by 
the  addition  of  ‘His  Excellency/  an  aristocratic  and 
high-sounding  adjunct,  which  I am  sorry  to  say  has  be- 
come too  common  among  us,  not  only  in  newspaper  com- 
munications, but  in  the  addressing  of  letters,  and  even  in 
familiar  discourse.  It  is  a practice  disagreeable  to  my 
feelings,  and  inconsistent,  as  I think,  with  the  dignified 
simplicity  of  freemen,  and  to  the  nature  of  the  vocation 
of  those  to  whom  it  is  applied.  And  having  made  it  a 
rule  through  life  to  address  no  one  as  His  Excellency, 
or  the  Honorable,  or  by  any  such  unmeaning  title,  I trust 
I shall  be  pardoned  for  asking  it  as  a favor  of  you,  and 
my  fellow-citizens  generally,  not  to  apply  them  to  me. 

“ I am,  &c.,  &c., 

“ Edward  Coles. 

“ Messrs.  Brown  & Berry, 

“ Editors  of  the  Illinois  Intelligencer .” 

Gen.  Lafayette  Visits  Illinois. 

When  Gen.  Lafayette,  the  great  French  patriot,  who 
came  to  America  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and  ren- 
dered such  valuable  aid,  with  men  and  money,  in  prose- 
cuting the  war  for  our  independence,  visited  the  United 
States  in  1825,  he  came  to  Illinois,  at  the  request  of  the 
General  Assembly.  (See  Washburne’s  Sketch  of  Coles.) 
He  visited  two  places,  Kaskaskia  and  Shawneetown.  At 
Kaskaskia,  Gov.  Coles,  who  had  met  the  old  soldier  in 
Paris  seven  years  previous,  made  the  address  of  welcome, 
and  he  was  elegantly  entertained  by  the  Governor  and 


24 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


other  distinguished  citizens.  From  there  he  proceeded  to 
Shawneetown,  accompanied  by  Gov.  Coles,  where  the  citi- 
zens came  out  en  masse  to  welcome  him;  carpets  were 
spread  from  the  steamboat  landing  to  the  Rawlins’  man- 
sion, where  a grand  banquet  was  tendered  him,  and  the 
little  girls  lined  his  pathway  with  sweet  May  flowers,  for 
that  was  the  month  in  which  he  was  there.  The  house 
at  which  he  was  entertained  in  Shawneetown  is  still 
standing,  but  that  at  Kaskaskia,  like  the  great  patriot 
himself,  has  long  since  given  way  to  the  cycles  of  time. 

Shawneetown  in  1817. 

In  the  early  settlement  of  Illinois,  Shawneetown,  like 
Kaskaskia,  was  one  of  the  few  important  towns  in  the 
country.  Indeed  Shawneetown  was  the  gateway  to  the 
Territory.  Morris  Birkbeck,  in  his  “Notes  on  a Journey 
in  America,”  printed  in  London,  in  1818,  writing  under 
date  of  August  2,  1817,  speaks  thus  of  Shawneetown: 

“ This  place  I account  as  a phenomenon,  evincing  the 
pertinacious  adhesion  of  the  human  animal  to  the  spot 
where  it  has  once  fixed  itself.  As  the  lava  of  Mt.  iEtna 
can  not  dislodge  this  strange  being  from  the  cities  which 
have  been  repeatedly  ravaged  by  its  eruptions,  so  the  Ohio, 
with  its  annual  overflowings,  is  unable  to  wash  away  the 
inhabitants  of  Shawneetown.  Here  is  the  land  office  for 
the  Southeast  district  of  Illinois,  where  I have  just  con- 
stituted myself  a land-owner,  by  paying  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars  as  one-fourth  of  the  purchase  money 
of  fourteen  hundred  and  forty  acres.  This,  with  a simi- 
lar purchase  made  by  Mr.  Flower,  is  part  of  a beautiful 
and  rich  prairie,  about  six  miles  distant  from  the  Big, 
and  the  same  distance  from  the  Little,  Wabash.” 

The  gentleman  referred  to  here  by  Mr.  Birkbeck,  was 
George  Flower,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Eng- 
lish colony  in  Edwards  county,  in  1817-18,  which  settle- 
ment has  proved  a monument  to  his  memory,  for  the 
people  who  came  with  him  were  of  the  highest  order,  and 
Edwards  county  has  ever  been  famed  for  the  intelligence 
and  good  order  of  its  inhabitants. 


APPENDIX. 


25 


An  act  was  passed  by  Congress  in  1814,  providing  for 
laying  off  two  sections  of  land  in  town  lots  at  Shawnee- 
town,  which  was  to  be  done  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Surveyor-General.  (See  U.  S.  Laws-at-large,  1818-20.) 
The  same  year  the  town  was  incorporated  by  the  Legis- 
ture.  (See  Public  Laws  of  Illinois  of  1814.) 

Mr.  Birkbeck  was  a prominent  and  honored  citizen  of 
Illinois  in  his  day,  and  took  an  active  part  with  Gov. 
Coles  in  his  efforts  to  prevent  Illinois  from  becoming  a 
slave  State.  He  was  Secretary  of  State  from  October  15, 
1824,  to  January  15,  1825,  when  he  resigned. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FOURTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY- 1824-23, 

% The  Fourth  General  Assembly  convened  November  15, 
1824,  and  adjourned  January  18,  1825.  A second  session 
convened  January  2,  1828,  and  adjourned  January  28. 
Lieut. -Gov.  Hubbard  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
Raphael  Widen  was  elected  Secretary.  Thomas  Mather  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  David  Blackwell  Clerk. 

David  Blackwell,  of  St.  Clair,  became  Secretary  of  State 
April  2,  1828,  and  resigned  October  15,  1824,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Morris  Birkbeck,  of  Edwards. 

Abner  Field,  of  Union,  became  Treasurer,  January  14, 
1823. 

George  Forquer,  of  Sangamon,  became  Secretary  of  State 
in  1825. 

Gov.  Coles  retired  from  office  December  6,  1826.  His 
administration  was  an  eventful  one.  He  had  boldly  met 


26 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  party  which  had  atttempted  to  make  Illinois  a slave 
State,  and  triumphantly  defeated  it,  and  thus  preserved 
our  fair  inheritance  to  freedom. 

Gov.  Coles  was  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia, 
December  15,  1786;  he  graduated  at  William  and  Mary 
College ; was  Private  Secretary  to  President  Madison,  who 
sent  him  on  a mission  to  Russia,  in  1817.  On  his  return, 
in  1818,  he  removed  to  Illinois. 

After  his  retirement  from  the  office  of  Governor  he 
mingled  but  little  in  politics,  and  in  1888  removed  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  died  July  7,  1868.  His  widow, 
his  eldest  son  Edward,  and  a daughter,  survived  him.  Gov. 
Coles  was  the  companion  and  friend  of  such  eminent  men 
as  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Nicholas  Biddle  and 
James  Monroe,  with  whom  he  was  in  frequent  correspond- 
ence ; and  he  wielded  a considerable  influence  in  shaping 
the  affairs  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  IX,’ 

SLAVERY  IN  ILLINOIS. 


When  and  How  Slaves  were  Held  in  Illinois— G-allatin  County  made  an  Ex- 
ception in  the  Constitution— An  Attempt  in  1822  to  make  Illinois  a Slave 
State— Vote  of  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  Question— A Hot 
Campaign  before  the  People — Vote  of  the  State  Against  Slavery. 


Illinois  being  originally  a part  of  Virginia,  there  were 
naturally  quite  a number  of  slaves  in  the  Territory  when 
it  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  in  1784,  and  it  was  then 
stipulated  that  persons  who  claimed  to  have  been  citizens  of 
Virginia  prior  to  the  cession  should  be  protected  in  their 
property,  which  meant  that  they  should  be  protected  in  the 
right  to  hold  their  slaves.  But  in  1787,  Congress  passed 


APPENDIX. 


27 


an  ordinance  which  declared  that  neither  slavery  nor  in- 
voluntary servitude  should  exist  in  the  Northwestern  Ter- 
ritory, of  which  Illinois  was  a part ; and  it  will  be  observed 
that  the  framers  of  the  constitution  of  1818  endeavored 
to  carry  out  the  will  of  Congress.  Sections  1,  2 and  8 of 
Article  6 read  thus  : 

1.  “ Neither  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  shall  here- 
after be  introduced  into  this  State,  otherwise  than  for  the 
punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted ; nor  shall  any  male  person,  arrived  at  the 
age  of  21  years,  nor  female  person  arrived  at  the  age  of 
18  years,  be  held  to  serve  any  person  as  a servant,  under 
any  indenture  hereafter  made,  unless  such  person  shall 
enter  into  such  indenture  while  in  a state  of  perfect  free- 
dom, and  on  condition  of  a bona  fide  consideration  received 
or  to  be  received  for  their  service.  Nor  shall  any  inden- 
ture of  any  negro  or  mulatto,  hereafter  made  and  executed 
out  of  this  State,  or,  if  made  in  this  State,  where  the 
term  of  service  exceeds  one  year,  be  of  the  least  validity, 
except  those  given  in  cases  of  apprenticeship. 

2.  “No  person  bound  to  labor  in  any  other  State,  shall 
be  hired  to  labor  in  this  State,  except  within  the  tract 
reserved  for  the  salt  works  near  Shawneetown,  nor  even 
at  that  place  for  a longer  period  than  one  year  at  any 
one  time ; nor  shall  it  be  allowed  there  after  the  year 
1825.  Any  violation  of  this  article  shall  effect  the  eman- 
cipation of  such  person  from  his  obligation  to  service. 

8.  “ Each  and  every  person  who  has  been  bound  to  service 

by  contract  or  indenture  in  virtue  of  the  laws  of  Illinois 
Territory  heretofore  existing,  and  in  conformity  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  same,  without  fraud  or  collusion,  shall  be 
held  to  a specific  performance  of  their  contracts  or  in- 
dentures ; and  such  negroes  and  mulattoes  as  have  been 
registered  in  conformity  with  the  aforesaid  laws,  shall  serve 
out  the  time  appointed  by  said  laws : Provided , however , 
that  the  children  hereafter  born  of  such  person,  negroes 
or  mulattoes,  shall  become  free,  the  males  at  the  age  of  21 
years,  the  females  at  the  age  of  18  years.  Each  and  every 
child  born  of  indentured  parents,  shall  be  entered  with  the 
clerk  of  the  county  in  which  they  reside,  by  their  owners, 
within  six  months  after  the  birth  of  said  child.” 

While  Illinois  was  in  no  true  sense  a slave  State,  yet 
slavery  existed  in  the  State  until  1840.  The  United  States 


28 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Census  of  1810,  shows  that  there  were  168  slaves  in  the 
Territory ; that  of  1820,  that  there  were  917  in  the  State ; 
that  of  1830,  747 ; that  of  1840,  331,  and  that  of  1850,  that 
the  institution  had  become  utterly  extinct  so  far  as  the 
force  of  law  governed  it.  Slavery,  however,  did  not  exist 
in  the  sense  that  it  did  in  the  slaves  States  proper,  but 
merely  in  the  form  of  an  indenture. 

But  the  constitution  of  1818  did  not  fully  settle  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  State,  for  a most 
determined  effort  was  made  during  the  administration  of 
Governor  Coles  to  change  the  organic  law  so  as  to  make 
Illinois  a slave  State,  and  the  effort  seems  to  have  been 
as  dishonest  as  it  was  earnest. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  in  December,  1822,  Gov.  Coles 
took  the  ground  that,  notwithstanding  slavery  was  pro- 
hibited by  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  by  the  constitution 
itself,  yet  it  existed  in  Illinois,  and  he  sought  to  impress 
upon  the  attention  of  the  law-making  power  the  idea  that 
the  institution  was  inhuman  and  morally  wrong,  and  that 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  pass  such 
laws  as  would  effectually  overthrow  the  institution  in  what- 
ever form  it  might  exist.  But  this  rational  and  just  rec- 
ommendation was  utterly  disregarded  by  the  pro-slavery 
men,  who,  being  largely  in  the  majority,  deliberately  went 
to  work  to  put  in  motion  the  machinery  by  which  the 
constitution  was  to  be  so  changed  as  to  make  of  Illinois 
a slave  State.  In  both  houses  the  pro-slavery  men  had  a 
large  majority;  but  when  the  final  test  came  in  the  House, 
they  lacked  one  vote  of  having  the  required  constitutional 
majority.  The  journal  of  the  House  of  that  session  shows 
that  there  had  been  a contest  between  Nicholas  Hansen, 
anti-slavery,  and  John  Shaw,  pro-slavery,  both  of  Pike 
county ; and  that  on  the  9th  of  December,  1822,  the  House 
declared  Hansen  entitled  to  the  seat.  But  when  it  became 
evident  to  the  pro-slavery  men  that  they  needed  one 


APPENDIX. 


29 


additional  vote  to  insure  the  passage  of  a resolution  calling 
a convention  to  amend  or  revise  the  constitution,  Alexander 
P.  Field  of  Union  county,  moved  to  reconsider  the  mo- 
tion by  which  Hansen  was  admitted.  This  was  on  the 
28th  of  January,  1828,  over  two  months  after  Mr.  Hansen 
had  been  declared  entitled  to  represent  his  district  in  that 
body.  It  was  pretended  that  some  new  evidence  had  been 
developed,  and  on  this  pretext  Hansen  was  unseated  and 
John  Shaw  admitted  in  his  place.  The  convention  reso- 
lution having  previously  passed  the  Senate,  needed  only 
the  formality  of  a vote  in  the  House  to  render  its  passage 
certain,  and  the  election  for  a convention  to  frame  a new 
constitution  was  therefore  called  for  the  first  Monday  in 
August,  1824.  The  contest  was  a bitter  one  from  the  very 
first  hour  the  question  was  mooted,  and  it  grew  in  bitter- 
ness as  the  canvass  progressed. 

Speaking  of  the  passage  of  the  convention  resolution, 
Ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  himself  a pro-slavery  man,  thus  refers 
to  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly : “ This  pro- 

ceeding in  the  General  Assembly  looked  revolutionary,  and 
was  condemned  by  all  honest  and  reflecting  men.  This 
outrage  was  a death-blow  to  the  convention.” 

Ex-Gov.  Ford,  in  his  History  of  Illinois,  bears  testimony 
to  the  same  effect,  wherein  he  says: 

“ The  night  after  this  resolution  passed,  the  convention 
party  assembled  to  triumph  in  a great  carousal.  They 
formed  themselves  into  a noisy,  disorderly,  and  tumultu- 
ous procession,  headed  by  Judge  Phillips,  Judge  Smith, 
Judge  Thomas  Reynolds,  late  Governor  of  Missouri,  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  Kinney,  followed  by  the  majority  of 
the  Legislature,  and  the  hangers-on  and  rabble  about  the 
seat  of  Government ; and  they  marched,  with  the  blowing 
of  tin  horns  and  the  beating  of  drums  and  tin  pans,  to 
the  residence  of  Gov.  Coles,  and  to  the  boarding  houses  of 
their  principal  opponents,  towards  whom  they  manifested 
their  contempt  and  displeasure  by  a confused  medley  of 
groans,  wailings  and  lamentations.  Their  object  was  to 
intimidate,  and  crush  all  opposition  at  once.” 


30 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  Judge  Phillips  referred  to  was  then  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  his  appearance  in 
such  company  and  in  such  a cause,  shows  how  deeply 
seated  was  the  slave  power  upon  the  very  vitals  of  our 
State.  The  contest,  as  we  Jiave  said,  was  waged  with  won- 
derful energy  on  both  sides.  Gov.  Coles  was  the  chosen 
leader  of  the  anti-slavery  party,  and  to  his  courage  and 
sagacity  may  be  ascribed  the  fact  that  Illinois  was  not 
cursed  with  the  blight  of  slavery.  We  quote  another  pas- 
sage from  Ford’s  history,  as  the  best  means  of  getting  be- 
fore the  reader  the  true  character  of  the  campaign: 

“ The  anti-convention  party  took  new  courage,  and 
rallied  to  a man.  They  established  newspapers  to  oppose 
the  convention : one  at  Shawneetown,  edited  by  Henry 
Eddy;  one  at  Edwardsville,  edited  by  Hooper  Warren, 
with  Gov.  Coles,  Thomas  Lippincott,  George  Churchill, 
and  Judge  Lockwood,  for  its  principal  contributors;  and 
finally,  one  at  Vandalia,  edited  by  David  Blackwell,  the 
Secretary  of  State.  The  slave  party  had  established  a 
newspaper  at  Kaskaskia,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Kane 
and  Chief  Justice  Reynolds;  and  one  at  Edwardsville, 
edited  by  Judge  Smith  ; and  both  parties  prepared  to 
appeal  to  the  interests,  the  passions,  and  the  intelligence 
of  the  people.  The  contest  was  mixed  with  much  personal 
abuse ; and  now  was  poured  forth  a perfect  avalanche  of 
detraction,  which,  if  it  were  not  for  the  knowledge  of  the 
people  that  such  matters  are  generally  false,  or  greatly 
exaggerated,  would  have  overwhelmed  and  consumed  all 
men’s  reputations.  Morris  Birkbeck,  an  Englishman,  who 
settled  an  English  colony  in  Edwards  county,  Gov.  Coles, 
David  Blackwell,  George  Churchill,  and  Thomas  Lippin- 
cott, wrote  fiery  hand-bills  and  pamphlets,  and  the  old 
preachers  preached  against  a convention  and  slavery. 
Elias  K.  Kane,  Judge  Thomas  Reynolds,  Judge  Samuel 
McRoberts,  Judge  Smith,  and  others,  wrote  hand-bills  and 
pamphlets  in  its  favor.  These  missive  weapons  of  a fiery 
contest  were  eagerly  read  by  the  people.  The  State  was 
almost  covered  with  them;  they  flew  everywhere,  and 
everywhere  they  scorched  and  scathed  as  they  flew.  This 
was  a long,  excited,  angry  and  bitter  contest.  It  was  to 
last  from  the  spring  of  1823,  until  the  August  election  of 
1824 ; the  rank  and  file  of  the  people  were  no  less  excited 


APPENDIX. 


31 


than  their  political  leaders.  Almost  every  stump  in  every 
county  had  its  bellowing  orator,  on  one  side  or  the  other ; 
and  the  whole  people,  for  the  space  of  eighteen  months, 
did  scarcely  anything  but  read  newspapers,  hand-bills  and 
pamphlets,  quarrel,  argue,  and  wrangle  with  each  other 
whenever  they  met  together  to  hear  the  violent  harangues 
of  their  orators.  The  people  decided  by  about  two  thou- 
sand majority  in  favor  of  a free  State.  Thus,  after  one 
of  the  most  bitter,  prolonged  and  memorable  contests 
which  ever  convulsed  the  politics  of  the  State,  the  ques- 
tion of  making  Illinois  a slave  State  was  put  to  rest.75 

The  vote  of  the  counties,  and  there  were  then  but 
thirty  in  the  entire  State,  as  shown  by  the  election  re- 
turns in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  was,  for 
convention,  4,950;  against,  6,822 — majority  against  conven- 
tion, 1,872. 

Subsequently,  the  question  as  to  the  right  to  hold  slaves 
in  the  State  under  the  indenture  system,  was  frequently 
brought  before  the  Supreme  Court,  but  no  further  attempt 
was  ever  made  to  fasten  the  institution  upon  the  State 
through  the  organic  law. 


CHAPTER  X. 

STATE  G0VERNMENT-1826-1830. 


The  third  State  government  was  inaugurated  December 
6,  1826,  with  Ninian  Edwards,  of  Madison,  as  Governor; 
Wm.  Kinney,  of  St.  Clair,  Lieutenant-Governor;  George 
Forquer,  of  Sangamon,  Secretary  of  State;  James  Turney, 
of  Washington,  Attorney-General;  Elijah  C.  Berry,  Auditor 
of  Public  Accounts,  and  Abner  Field,  of  Union,  Treasurer. 

The  Fifth  General  Assembly  convened  December  4,  1826, 
and  adjourned  February  9,  1827.  Lieut. -Gov.  Kinney 
presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Emanuel  J.  West  was 
elected  Secretary.  John  McLean  was  elected  Speaker  of 
the  House,  and  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing  Clerk. 

41 


32 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Inv  this  Assembly  was  Wm.  S.  Hamilton,  of  Sangamon, 
a son  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  first  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  was  killed  in  a duel  with  Aaron  Burr,  who 
was  Vice-President  under  Thomas  Jefferson.  Mr.  Wm.  S. 
Hamilton  was  born  in  New  York,  and  came  to  Illinois  in 
1817,  settling  in  Sangamon  county.  He  emigrated  to 
Wisconsin  in  1827,  and  from  thence  to  California,  where 
he  distinguished  himself.  He  died  in  that  State  October 
9,  1850,  and  a monument  marks  his  resting  place. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CAIRO  IN  1818, 


As  far  back  as  1818,  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Cairo  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  sites  in  Illi- 
nois for  a flourishing  city,  and  it  will  be  both  interesting 
and  amusing  to  read  the  following  preamble  to  an  act 
which  was  approved  January  9,  1818,  incorporating  the 
place : 

“ And,  whereas,  the  said  proprietors  represent  that  there 
is,  in  their  opinion,  no  position  in  the  whole  of  the  extent 
of  these  Western  States  better  calculated,  as  respects  com- 
mercial advantages  and  local  supply,  for  a great  and  im- 
portant city,  than  that  afforded  by  the  junction  of  these 
two  great  highways — the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers ; but 
that  nature,  having  denied  to  the  extreme  point  formed 
by  their  union  a sufficient  degree  of  elevation  to  protect 
the  improvements  made  thereon  from  the  ordinary  inunda- 
tions of  the  adjacent  waters,  such  elevation  is  to  be  found 
only  upon  the  tract  above  mentioned  (the  present  site  of 
Cairo),  so  that  improvements  made  and  located  thereon 
may  be  deemed  perfectly  and  absolutely  secure  from  all 
such  ordinary  inundations,  and  liable  to  injury  only  from 
the  concurrence  of  unusually  high  and  simultaneous  inun- 
dations in  both  of  said  rivers — an  event  which  is  alleged 


APPENDIX. 


33 


but  rarely  happens,  and  the  injurious  consequences  of 
which  it  is  considered  practicable,  by  proper  embankments, 
wholly  and  effectually  and  permanently  to  obviate.  And, 
whereas,  there  is  no  doubt  but  a city,  erected  at?  or  as 
near  as  is  practicable  to,  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  provided  it  be  thus  secured  by  sufficient 
embankments,  or  in  such  other  way  as  experience  may 
prove  most  efficacious  for  that  purpose,  from  every  such 
extraordinary  inundation — must  necessarily  become  a place 
of  vast  consequence  to  the  prosperity  of  this  growing  Ter- 
ritory, and,  in  fact,  to  that  of  the  greater  part  of  the  in- 
habitants of  these  Western  States.  And,  whereas,  the 
above  named  persons  are  desirous  of  erecting  such  city, 
under  the  sanction  and  patronage  of  the  Legislature  of 
this  Territory,  and  also  of  providing  for  the  security  and 
prosperity  of  the  same,  and  to  that  end  propose  to  appro- 
priate the  one-third  of  all  the  moneys  arising  from  the 
sale  and  disposition  of  the  lots  into  which  the  same  may 
be  surveyed,  as  a fund  for  the  construction  and  preserva- 
tion of  such  dykes,  levees  and  other  embankments  as  may 
be  necessary  to  render  the  same  perfectly  secure;  and, 
also,  if  such  fund  shall  be  deemed  sufficient  thereto,  for 
the  erection  of  public  edifices  and  such  other  improve- 
ments in  the  said  city  as  may  be,  from  time  to  time,  con- 
sidered expedient  and  practicable,  and  to  appropriate  the 
other  two-thirds  parts  of  the  said  purchase  moneys  to  the 
operation  of  banking.’’  (See  Laws  of  the  Session  of  1818.) 

John  G.  Comyges,  Thomas  H.  Harris,  Charles  Slade, 
Thomas  F.  Herbert,  Shadrach  Bond,  Michael  Jones,  War- 
ren Brown,  Edward  Humphreys  and  Charles  W.  Hunter 
were  designated  as  proprietors  of  the  then  prospective  city. 

In  the  sixty-six  years  that  have  passed  since  this  legis- 
lation, Cairo  has  had  a hard  struggle  for  the  mastery  of 
the  floods.  In  the  spring  of  1882-88-84,  respectively,  the 
height  of  the  rivers  exceeded  that  of  all  former  years,  yet 
the  levees  successfully  resisted  the  pressure  of  the  water, 
which  clearly  demonstrates  that  human  skill  has  placed 
Cairo  beyond  the  power  of  the  floods. 


34 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


PEORIA  IN  1824, 


Peoria,  now  with  her  forty  thousand  busy,  prosperous 
people,  her  many  grand  railways,  her  great  commerce,  her 
immense  manufactories,  and  her  flourishing  schools,  col- 
leges and  churches,  had  but  a feeble  existence  when  Ed- 
ward Coles  was  Governor.  In  a report  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  (See  Peck’s  Gazetteer  of  1834),  regarding 
the  title  to  town  lots  in  the  then  village  of  Peoria,  Mr. 
Coles  made  the  following  minute  reference  to  the  early 
history  of  the  place,  which,  in  view  of  the  great  achieve- 
ments since,  is  worthy  of  preserving  as  a part  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  State : 

“ The  village  of  Peoria  is  situated  on  the  northwest  shore 
of  Lake  Peoria,  about  one  and  a half  miles  above  the 
lower  extremity  or  outlet  of  the  lake.  This  village  had 
been  inhabited  by  the  French  previous  to  the  recollection 
of  any  of  the  present  generation.  About  the  year  1778, 
the  first  house  was  built,  in  what  was  then  called  Laville 
de  Maillet — afterwards  the  new  village  of  Peoria — and  of 
late  the  place  has  been  known  by  the  name  of  Fort  Clark. 
The  situation  being  preferred  in  consequence  of  the  water 
being  better,  and  its  being  thought  more  healthy,  the  in- 
habitants gradually  deserted  the  old  village,  and,  by  the 
year  1796  or  1797,  had  entirely  abandoned  it  and  removed 
to  the  new  village. 

“ The  inhabitants  of  Peoria  consisted  generally  of  Indian 
traders,  hunters  and  voyagers,  and  had  formed  a link  of 
connection  between  the  French  residing  on  the  waters  of 
the  great  lakes  and  the  Mississippi  river.  From  that 
happy  facility  of  adapting  themselves  to  their  situation 
and  associates,  for  which  the  French  are  so  remarkable, 
the  inhabitants  of  Peoria  lived  generally  in  harmony  with 
their  savage  neighbors.  It  would  seem,  however,  that 
about  the  year  1781,  they  were  induced  to  abandon  their 
village  from  the  apprehension  of  Indian  hostilities ; but  soon 
after  the  peace  of  1783,  they  again  returned  to  it,  and  con- 
tinued to  reside  there  until  the  ahtumn  of  1812,  when  they 
were  forcibly  removed  from  it  and  the  place  destroyed  by 
a Capt.  Craig,  of  the  Illinois  militia,  on  the  ground,  it  was 


APPENDIX. 


35 


said,  that  he  and  his  company  were  fired  on  in  the  night, 
while  at  anchor  in  the  boats,  before  the  village,  by  the 
Indians,  with  whom  the  inhabitants  were  suspected,  by 
Craig,  to  be  too  intimate  and  friendly.  The  inhabitants 
of  Peoria,  it  would  appear,  and  from  all  I can  learn, 
settled  there  without  any  grant  or  permission  from  the 
authority  of  any  government ; that  the  only  title  they  had 
to  the  land  was  derived  from  possession.” 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SIXTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY-1828-30. 

The  Sixth  General  Assembly  convened  December  1,  1828, 
and  adjourned  January  23,  1829.  Lieut. -Gov.  Kinney  pre- 
sided over  the  Senate,  and  Emanuel  J.  West  served  as 
Secretary.  John  McLean  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  William  L.  D.  Ewing  Clerk. 

James  Hall,  of  Jackson,  became  Treasurer  February  12, 
1827.  Alex.  P.  Field,  of  Union,  became  Secretary  of  State 
December  31,  1828. 

Ninian  Edwards  ceased  to  be  Governor  December  9, 1830. 
Mr.  Edwards  discharged  the  duties  of  the  Executive  with 
ease  to  himself  and  satisfaction  to  the  people,  having  had 
nine  years  experience  as  Governor  of  the  Territory. 

Gov.  Edwards  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Mary- 
land, March,  1775.  He  graduated  at  Dickinson  College; 
studied  both  medicine  and  law,  but  devoted  himself  to  the 
practice  of  law.  Removing  to  Kentucky,  he  was  twice 
elected  to  the  Legislature ; he  was  appointed  Circuit  Clerk 
and  subsequently  Judge  of  the  General  Court  of  Kentucky ; 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court ; Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
and  finally  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  which  position  he 


36 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


resigned  to  accept  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  Territory 
of  Illinois,  and,  while  holding  this  trust,  he  had  many 
conflicts  with  the  Indians.  Before  Congress  had  adopted 
any  measures  on  the  subject  of  volunteer  rangers,  he  organ- 
ized companies,  supplied  them  with  arms,  built  stockade 
forts,  and  established  a line  of  posts  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Missouri  to  the  Wabash  river,  and  was  thus  enabled 
to  protect  the  people  against  the  assaults  of  the  Indians. 

Gov.  Edwards  had  three  sons,  Ninian  W.,  Albert  G.  and 
Benjamin  S.*-all  of  w7hom  are  living;  and  two  daughters, 
Julia  Catherine,  who  married  Daniel  P.  Cook,  and  Mary 
B.,  who  married  Joseph  S.  Lane,  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
- — both  of  wdiom  died  some  years  ago. 

Gov.  Edwards  died  July  20,  1888. 


CHAPTER  XIII, 

ALTON  AS  A RIVAL  TO  ST,  LOUIS. 


Alton  as  a Rival  to  St.  Louis— Massacre  at  Fort  Massac— One  of  the  Land- 
marks of  1837. 


One  of  the  things  contemplated  in  the  internal  improve- 
ment system  of  this  State  in  1837,  was  to  make  Alton  the 
rival  of  St.  Louis,  as  a great  commercial  center;  and  all 
who  did  not  bow  down  to  that  idea  were  regarded  as  com- 
mon enemies  of  the  State,  but  it  is  interesting  to  know 
that  all  our  public  men  did  not  accept  as  practical  the 
policy  of  confining  our  commerce  and  the  business  of  our 
railroads  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  Among  the  pro- 
jected roads  was  one  from  Alton  to  Mt.  Carmel,  known 
as  the  Southern  Cross  railroad.  Governor  Zadok  Casey, 


♦Benjamin  S.  Edwards  died  Feb.  6, 18S6,  in  his  68th  year. 


APPENDIX. 


87 

father  of  the  well-known  Samuel  K.  Casey,  and  also  of 
Thomas  S.  and  Newton  B.  Casey,  hardly  less  well-known, 
clearly  saw  the  inutility  of  making  Alton  its  terminus, 
and  made  an  earnest  effort  to  secure  its  diversion  to  St. 
Louis,  but  it  was  unavailing,  as  the  following  incident  will 
show : He  planned  an  extensive  campaign  along  the  pro- 
posed line,  and  made  his  opening  speech  at  Fairfield,  and, 
as  it  turned  out,  his  last  one  on  the  subject.  A great 
crowd  gathered  on  the  public  square  of  that  village,  now 
a thriving  little  city,  and  the  Governor,  a man  of  fine 
presence  and  pleasing  address,  mounted  a goods-box  and 
proceeded  to  open  up  the  subject  in  a manner  which 
brought  forth  hearty  applause,  but  when  he  suggested 
St.  Louis,  instead  of  Alton,  as  the  terminus  of  the  road, 
a change  came  over  the  spirit  of  his  hearers,  and  they 
unceremoniously  assisted  him  off  the  box;  and  here  ended 
his  campaign  in  the  interest  of  a railroad  from  Mt.  Carmel 
to  St.  Louis.  But  it  is  creditable  to  his  foresight  to  say 
that  such  a road  is  now  in  operation.  It  is  known  as  the 
Air-Line,  running  from  Louisville  to  St.  Louis,  and  tra- 
verses the  identical  section  of  country  mapped  out  by 
Gov.  Casey  forty-six  years  ago. 

Massacre  at  Fort  Massac. 

Peck’s  Gazetteer  of  Illinois,  of  1834,  gives  the  following 
Interesting  account  of  an  Indian  massacre  of  French  sol- 
diers at  Fort  Massac,  in  what  is  now  Massac  county, 
when  Illinois  was  owned  by  the  French  government : 

“Fort  Massac,  formerly  a military  post,  was  situated 
on  the  Ohio  river,  on  the  dividing  line  of  Johnson  and 
Pope  counties,  eight  miles  below  Paducah,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee.  A fort  was  erected  here  by  the  French 
when  in  possession  of  the  Western  country.  The  Indians, 
then  at  war  with  them,  laid  a curious  stratagem  to  take 
it.  A number  of  them  appeared  in  the  day  time  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river,  each  of  whom  was  covered  with 
r bear  skin  and  walked  on  all  fours.  Supposing  them  to 


38 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


be  bears,  a party  of  the  French  crossed  the  river  in  pur- 
suit of  them.  The  remainder  of  the  troops  left  their 
quarters,  to  see  the  sport. 

“In  the  meantime  a large  body  of  warriors,  who  were 
concealed  in  the  woods  near  by,  came  silently  behind  the 
fort,  entered  it  without  opposition,  and  very  few  of  the 
French  escaped  the  massacre.  They  afterwards  built 
another  fort  on  the  same  ground,  and  called  it  Massac, 
in  memory  of  this  disastrous  event.” 

On  this  memorable  spot  there  is  not  now  a vestige  of 
the  old  fort. 

One  of  the  Landmarks  of  1837. 

One  of  the  few  landmarks  of  the  internal  improvement 
system  of  1837,  is  the  bank  building  of  the  “Bank  of 
Illinois,,,  of  Shawneetown,  which  was  erected  in  1838-40. 
It  is  of  massive  stone  and  brick,  four  stories  high,  fifty 
feet  front  and  ninety  feet  deep.  It  is  of  Doric  architect- 
ure, with  five  solid  stone  columns,  forty  feet  high  and 
sixty  inches  in  diameter.  The  building,  which  cost  $83,000, 
is  imposing  in  appearance,  and  although  constructed  forty- 
six  years  ago,  would  grace  any  of  our  modern  cities. 
The  “Bank  of  Illinois”  had  six  branches — Galena,  Quincy, 
Alton,  Jacksonville,  Pekin,  and  Lawrenceville.  The  bank 
and  its  branches  were  forced  to  close  business  in  1843, 
and  the  banking  house  at  Shawneetown  was  sold  some 
years  after  to  Joel  A.  Matteson,  who  started  a bank  there 
in  1853  or  1354,  in  charge  of  A.  B.  Safford,  as  cashier. 
Subsequently  Mr.  Safford  removed  to  Cairo,  when  L.  B. 
Leach  took  control  of  it  until  the  war  for  the  Union  en- 
sued, when  the  bank  ceased  to  do  business,  and  Mr. 
Matteson,  fearing  that  the  country  would  be  overrun  by 
the  rebels,  sold  it  to  Thos.  S.  Bidgway,  for  the  trifling 
sum  of  $6,500,  and  since  1865  it , has  been  occupied  by 
the  “First  National  Bank,’,  with  John  McKee  Peeples  as 
President,  and  Thos.  S.  Ridgway  as  Cashier,  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Peeples,  when  Mr.  Ridgway  became  Presi- 
dent, and  Wm.  D.  Phile  Cashier. 


APPENDIX. 


39 


STATE  GOVERNMENT— 1830-34. 

The  fourth  State  government  was  inaugurated  December 
9,  1830,  with  John  Reynolds,  of  St.  Clair,  as  Governor; 
Zadok  Casey,  of  Jefferson,  Lieutenant-Governor;  Alex.  P. 
Field,  of  Union,  Secretary  of  State ; James  T.  B.  Stapp, 
of  Fayette,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts;  James  Hall,  of 
Jackson,  Treasurer;  George  Forquer,  of  Sangamon,  At- 
torney-General. 

The  Seventh  General  Assembly  convened  December  6, 
1830,  and  adjourned  February  16,  1831.  Lieut. -Gov. 
Casey  presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas  was 
elected  Secretary.  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing  was  elected  Speaker 
of  the  House,  and  David  Prickett,  Clerk. 

The  business  of  this  session  was  routine,  except  the 
bitter  fight  over  the  election  of  a treasurer.  John 
Dement,  a Jackson  man,  and  James  Hall,  anti- 
Jackson,  were  the  candidates.  Dement,  after  a heated 
struggle,  was  successful. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROGRESS  IN  SCHOOLS. 

Novel  School  Laws— School  Tax  Paid  in  Produce— Alton  the  first  to  Es- 
tablish a Free  School— Normal  Schools— Colleges— State  Teachers*  Asso- 
ciation-Prominent Educators— Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction- 
School  Journals. 


Among  all  the  grand  achievements  of  our  State,  there 
is  none  of  which  the  people  have  reason  to  feel  a greater 
pride  than  in  the  progress  made  in  the  school  system. 
Its  success  has  been  the  foundation  stone  of  all  other 
successes,  whether  moral,  religious  or  industrial.  A con- 
templation of  the  past  and  present  of  the  system  can  not 
fail  to  prove  both  entertaining  and  instructive,  if  not 
amusing. 


40 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  General  Assembly  of  1821  passed  an  act  which 
authorized  Upper  Alton  to  levy  a tax  not  exceeding  sev- 
enty-five cents  on  each  town  lot,  to  be  applied  to  the 
support  of  teachers,  erection  of  school  buildings  or  repair- 
ing. The  proprietors  of  Upper  Alton  having  donated  one 
hundred  town  lots,  one-half  of  which  was  for  the  support 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  other  half  for  the  support  of  public 
schools,  the  act  exempted  these  lots  from  this  tax. 
Under  this  act  Alton  established  the  first  free  school, 
which  was  declared  to  be  free  to  all,  of  suitable  age, 
within  the  limits  of  the  town.  Up  to  this  time  no  school 
system  had  been  adopted,  and  no  provision  made  by  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  support  of  the  schools,  with  the 
exception  of  the  small  amount  realized  from  leasing  the 
school  lands.  In  1825,  the  General  Assembly  passed  the 
first  act  establishing  free  schools  throughout  the  State, 
the  preamble  of  which  reads  as  follows : 

“To  enjoy  our  rights  and  liberties  we  must  understand 
them ; their  security  and  protection  ought  to  be  the  first 
object  of  a free  people ; and  it  is  a well-established  fact, 
that  no  nation  has  ever  continued  long  in  the  enjoyment 
of  civil  and  political  freedom,  which  was  not  both  virtuous 
and  enlightened.  And  believing  that  the  advancement  of 
literature  always  has  been  and  ever  will  be  the  means  of 
more  fully  developing  the  rights  of  man;  that  the  mind 
of  every  citizen  in  a republic  is  the  common  property  of 
society,  and  constitutes  the  basis  of  its  strength  and  hap- 
piness, it  is  therefore  considered  - the  peculiar  duty  of  a 
free  government,  like  ours,  to  encourage  and  extend  the 
improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  intellectual  energies 
of  the  whole.” 

Section  one  provided  that  there  should  be  established  a 
common  school  or  schools  in  each  of  the  counties  of  the 
State,  which  should  be  open  and  free  to  every  class  of 
white  citizens  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one 
years ; provided,  that  persons  over  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  might  be  admitted  into  such  schools  on  such  terms 
as  the  trustees  might  prescribe.  The  schools  were  wholly 


APPENDIX. 


41 


under  the  direction  of  the  trustees.  The  county  boards  in 
the  several  counties  were  required,  by  the  same  act,  to 
establish  school  districts  containing  not  less  than  fifteen 
families.  The  legal  voters  were  given  the  power  to  vote 
an  annual  tax,  either  in  cash  or  good  merchantable  pro- 
duce, upon  the  inhabitants  of  their  respective  districts, 
not  exceeding  one-half  per  centum,  nor  amounting  to 
more  than  ten  dollars  per  annum  on  any  one  person,  and 
two  dollars  out  of  every  hundred  received  into  the  State 
treasury  was  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  schools. 
For  the  purpose  of  building  or  repairing  school  houses, 
supplying  furniture  and  fuel,  the  people  could  classify 
themselves  and  determine  the  amount  of  work,  material 
or  money,  in  lieu  thereof,  each  should  give.  But  no  one 

was  required  to  contribute  in  this  way  unless  he  sent  a 

child  to  school.  The  tax  levy,  made  in  produce,  might 
be  transferred  to  the  teacher,  who  was  empowered  to 
make  the  collection.  In  case  of  disagreement  as  to  the 
price  of  any  produce  offered,  arbitration  was  provided  for. 
But  this  law  went  further  than  the  wishes  of  the  people, 

and  in  1827  the  General  Assembly  repealed  the  clause 

making  the  appropriation  of  two  dollars  from  the  State 
treasury,  and  the  law  was  further  amended  so  that  no 
person  might  be  taxed  without  his  consent.  This  left  the 
support  of  the  schools  so  precarious  that  they  made  but 
little  progress.  In  1829,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an 
act  which  provided  for  the  sale  of  school  and  seminary 
lands,  which  laid  the  foundation  for  the  present  township 
fund  system. 

In  1845,  the  General  Assembly  again  empowered  the  dis- 
tricts to  vote  a tax,  but  a two-thirds  vote  was  required, 
and  the  tax  was  limited  to  fifteen  cents  upon  the  hundred 
dollars.  This  power  of  taxation  was  enlarged  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1849,  and  again  in  1851.  But  it  was  not 
until  the  enactment  of  the  free  school  law  of  1855,  nearly 


42  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

in  the  form  prepared  by  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  who  had 
been  appointed  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
the  year  before,  that  the  school  system  was  put  upon  a 
firm  basis  by  the  requirement  that  in  each  district  the 
schools  should  be  maintained  for  at  least  six  months  in 
each  year,  and  by  granting  the  school  boards  power  to 
levy  taxes  for  whatever  amount  they  found  necessary  for 
building  purposes  and  for  current  expenses.  And  a two- 
mill  State  tax  for  the  support  of  schools  was  also  author- 
ized. From  this  time  our  public  school  system  made 
rapid  progress. 

The  school  for  the  Feeble-Minded  at  Lincoln,  and  the 
schools  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  and  for  the  Blind,  at 
Jacksonville,  all  supported  by  the  State,  are  properly  con- 
sidered a part  of  the  State’s  system  of  education. 

The  Industrial  University,  at  Champaign,  chartered  in 
1867,  is  a State  institution  of  high  standing  as  a school 
of  technology  and  art,  and  offers  fine  facilities  for  an  ex- 
tended literary  course.  It  is  supported  mainly  by  the  in- 
come from  the  sale  of  lands,  which  were  donated  by  Con- 
gress for  the  establishment  of  agricultural  colleges  in  the 
several  States,  and  partially  by  State  aid.  Tuition  fees 
are  nominal.  Dr.  Selim  H.  Peabody,  a man  of  high  char- 
acter and  eminent  scholarly  attainments,  is  President. 

The  State  maintains  two  normal  schools,  one  at  Normal 
and  the  other  at  Carbondale,  partly  by  the  income  of 
college  and  seminary  funds,  and  partly  by  direct  appro- 
priations from  the  State  treasury.  In  both,  tuition  is  free 
to  persons  intending  to  teach.  Cook  county  has  for  years 
maintained  a normal  school  of  high  rank,  which  has  been 
liberally  patronized. 

The  frequent  attempts  made  in  the  General  Assembly  to 
repeal  the  laws  founding  these  Normal  Schools,  make  it 
necessary  to  say  that  their  purpose  is  simply  to  fit  per- 
sons to  teach  and  manage  schools. 


APPENDIX, 


43 


In  Prussia,  where  the  educational  standard  is  of  the 
highest  order,  no  one  is  allowed  to  teach  who  has  not  a 
certificate  from  the  Normal;  and  in  our  owTn  country  the 
Normal  system  is  growing  in  greater  favor  daily.  In  many 
of  the  older  States  it  has  become  widely  founded ; in  Penn- 
sylvania there  are  ten  of  these  schools,  and  in  Massa- 
chusetts seven,  which  will  suffice  to  show  that  our  State  is 
not  over-taxed  in  this  regard. 

In  point  of  Colleges,  we  have  made  less  progress  than 
some  of  the  older  States,  for  the  reason  that  we  have  not 
concentrated  our  energies  in  that  direction.  Where  other 
States  have  taken  one  or  two  colleges  as  a basis  on  which 
to  create  great  and  grand  schools,  we  have  founded  many, 
and  the  result  has  been  that  while  we  have  a number 
which  rank  well,  yet  we  have  few  which  have  become 
widely  known.  Prominent  among  these  we  mention  Knox 
College,  Galesburg;  Elgin  Academy,  Elgin;  Morris  Ac- 
ademy and  Scientific  School,  Morris ; Wheaton  College, 
Wheaton;  Lombard  University,  Galesburg;  University  of 
Chicago,  Kush  Medical  College,  Chicago  Manual  Training 
School,  Chicago ; Northwestern  University,  Evanston  ; Mt. 
Carroll  Seminary,  Mt.  Carroll ; Almira  College,  Greenville ; 
Baptist  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Morgan  Park ; Shurt- 
leff  College,  Upper  Alton;  Illinois  Wesleyan  University, 
Bloomington ; Rockford  Seminary,  Rockford ; Monticello 
Female  Seminary,  Godfrey ; Eureka  College,  Eureka ; Illi- 
nois College  and  Whipple  Academy,  Jacksonville. 

At  the  capital  of  the  State  is  a school  for  the  education 
of  young  ladies,  which  deserves  more  than  a passing  men- 
tion—the  Bettie  Stuart  Institute — founded  in  1868  by  Mrs. 
McKee  Homes,  so  named  in  memory  of  a lovely  daughter 
of  the  late  John  T.  Stuart,  who  was  the  early  friend  and 
preceptor  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Unlike  many  schools  of 
its  character,  it  is  not  under  the  domination  of  any  religious 
sect,  yet  it  is  surrounded  by  every  moral  and  religious  in- 
fluence that  tends  to  direct  the  mind  of  the  child  to  a life 
of  purity  and  usefulness.  Its  government  is  all  that 


/ 


44  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

human  agency  can  devise.  The  annual  catalogues  of  the 
Bettie  Stuart  Institute  show  that  its  patrons  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  boundaries  of  Illinois,  but  that  they  come  from 
many  of  the  States,  North  and  South,  East  and  West.  Mrs. 
Homes  is  an  able  and  gifted  woman,  and  she  has  been  most 
fortunate  in  the  selection  of  her  teachers,  drawing  from 
time  to  time  upon  the  graduates  of  the  best  colleges  in  the 
country.  Besides  the  regular  classical  course,  which  is 
thorough  in  every  department,  the  school  excels  in  instruc- 
tion in  German,  French,  music,  drawing  and  painting; 
while  the  motherly  care  of  Mrs.  Homes*over  the  manners 
and  morals  of  the  young  ladies  confided  to  her  care,  has 
given  the  institution  great  popularity  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  proud  position  Illinois  occupies,  in  an  educational 
point  of  view,  is  due  perhaps  as  much  to  the  State  Teach- 
ers’ Association  as  to  any  other  cause.  It  has  really 
been  the  power  behind  the  throne.  Through  its  influence 
came  the  present  school  system,  the  State  superintendency, 
the  County  superintendency,  the  Normal  and  the  Industral 
University.  The  primary  organization  of  the  association 
took  place  at  Bloomington  on  the  28th  of  December,  1858. 
The  circular  calling  the  meeting  was  signed  by  Alexander 
Starne,  Secretary  of  State  and  ex-officio  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  the  Presidents  and  Professors  of 
Shurtleff  College,  Wesleyan  University  and  Knox  College. 
The  Rev.  W.  Goodfellow  was  elected  President;  Rev.  H. 
Spaulding,  Thomas  Powell  and  C.  C.  Honney,  Vice  Pres- 
idents, and  Rev.  D.  Wilkins  Secretary.  Committees  were 
appointed  to  petition  the  Legislature  to  create  the 
office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  for  the  passage  of  an  act  establishing  Normal 
schools.  The  next  meeting  of  the  Association  was  held 
at  Peoria,  December  26,  1854,  since  which  time  the 
organization  has  been  kept  intact,  and  each  year  it 
has  increased  in  numbers  and  in  usefulness.  In  point  of 
education,  we  venture  the  opinion  that  Illinois  is  not 
behind  other  States.  In  the  great  array  of  men  and 

*Mrs.  Homes  died  August  3,  1888,  in  the  65th  year  of  her  age.  The 
Institute  is  now  under  the  management  of  Mrs.  A.  M.  Brooks. 


APPENDIX. 


45 


women  who  have  been  foremost  in  the  school  work,  we 
feel  free  to  select  the  following  as  having  been  intimately 
connected  with  our  educational  advancement : Newton  Bate- 
man, W.  H.  Powell,  C.  E.  Hovey,  Bronson  Murray,  Simeon 
Wright,  B.  G.  Roots,  Prof.  J.  Y.  N.  Standish,  W.  H. 
Wells,  W.  M.  Beeker,  Dr.  Richard  Edwards, *Ninian  W. 
Edwards,  George  Howland.  J.  L.  Pickard,  E.  C.  Delano. 
Thomas  Metcalf,  H.  L.  Boltwood,  E.  L.  Wells,  E.  A.  Gast- 
man,  Andrew  M.  Brooks,  Flavel  Mosely,  John  C.  Dore, 
Miss  Harriet  N.  Haskell,  Miss  Anna  P.  Sill,  Mrs.  Francis 

A.  Wood  Shimer,  Henry  Raab,  George  Bunsen,  Julian  M. 
Sturtevant,  James  H.  Blodgett,  Dr.  Samuel  Willard,  W. 

B.  Powell,  Prof.  J.  B.  Turner,  D.  S.  Wentworth,  Samuel 

M.  Etter,  James  P.  Slade,  S.  W.  Moulton,  Dr.  E.  C. 
Hewett,  Dr.  Robert  Allyn,  and  David  A.  Wallace.  Messrs. 

N.  W.  Edwards,  W.  H.  Powell,  Bateman,  John  P. 
Brooks,  Etter,  Slade  and  Raab,  have  each  been  honored 
with  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
while  all  of  the  others  have  been  active  workers  and  held 
many  high  trusts  in  our  schools  and  colleges. 

Mr.  Edwards  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  by  Governor  Matteson  in  1854,  and  held  the 
office  until  January,  1857,  when  Mr.  Powell  became  his 
successor  through  election  by  the  people.  Mr.  Bateman 
was  elected  to  the  office  five  different  times. 

As  an  auxiliary  to  the  school  work,  a number  of  excel- 
lent school  periodicals  and  journals  have  been  established 
in  the  State,  the  first  of  which  was  the  Illinois  Teacher , 
published  from  1855  to  1872.  It  was  first  established  by 
the  State  Teachers’  Association,  but  later  was  published 
as  a private  enterprise  by  N.  C.  Nason,  of  Peoria.  It  ex- 
ercised a marked  influence  in  leading  and  shaping  public 
opinion  upon  school  questions.  Among  the  journals  in  ex- 
istence now,  we  take  pleasure  in  mentioning  the  Illinois  School 

* Elected  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  188G. 


46 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Journal,  published  by  John  W.  Cook,  at  Normal;  Present 
Age , Practical  Teacher , and  the  School  Master , of  Chicago. 

To  review  the  history  of  the  intellectual  advancement  of 
Illinois  during  the  seventy-one  years  she  has  been  one  of  the 
sovereign  States  of  the  National  Union,  is  to  conclude  that, 
under  wise  direction  and  liberal  and  judicious  legislation, 
we  shall  continue  to  advance  in  literature,  art,  science  and 
good  government. 


CHAPTER  XV, 

EIGHTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY-1832-34, 


The  Eighth  General  Assembly  convened  December  3, 
183*2,  and  adjourned  March  2,  1833.  Lieut. -Gov.  Casey 
having  resigned,  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing  was  elected  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr., 
Secretary.  Alex.  M.  Jenkins  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  David  Prickett  Clerk. 

An  able  and  influential  member  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly was  John  T.  Stuart,  of  Sangamon.  Mr.  Stuart  was 
born  in  Kentucky,  November  10,  1807 ; he  graduated  at 
Centerville  College,  Danville,  and  having  studied  law, 
settled  in  Illinois.  Abraham  Lincoln  studied  law  under 
him.  Mr.  Stuart  served  three  terms  in  Congress — 1839- 
41-43  and  1863-65 — the  first  two  with  ex-President  John 
Quincy  Adams,  from  whom  he  learned  the  useful  lesson, 
that  it  was  “better  to  wear  out  than  rust  out.”  Though 
advanced  in  years,  Mr.  Stuart*is  yet  hale  and  hearty.  He 
is  the  oldest  ex-member  of  Congress  and  practicing  lawyer 
in  the  State,  being  the  senior  member  of  the  well-known 
law  firm  of  Stuart,  Edwards  & Brown. 

John  Dement,  of  Franklin,  was  elected  Treasurer  in 
February,  1831.  


*Died  November  28, 1885. 


APPENDIX. 


47 


Gov.  Reynolds  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1834,  and 
resigned  the  office  of  Governor  November  17,  when  acting 
Lieut. -Gov.  Ewing  became  Governor. 

Gov.  Reynolds  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, February  26,  1789,  of  Irish  parents,  who  landed 
in  Philadelphia  in  1786;  he  belonged  to  a company  of 
scouts  in  the  campaigns  against  the  Indians,  in  1812  and 
1818;  he  was  a lawyer  by  profession,  and  prior  to  his 
election  as  Governor,  he  was  a Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  served  one  term  in  the  Legislature;  he  com- 
manded the  Illinois  volunteers  during  the  Black  Hawk 
war,  1832 ; he  served  in  the  Legislature  from  1846  to  1848, 
and  -from  1852  to  1854;  the  last  term  he  was  Speaker; 
he  published  a pioneer  history  of  Illinois  in  1848;  “Glance 
at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  Sketches  of  Travel,”  in  1854; 
“My  Life  and  Times,”  in  1855,  and  at  one  time  he  con- 
ducted the  Belleville  Eagle,  a daily  paper.  He  died  at 
Belleville  May  8,  1865. 

Mormon  War. 

Among  our  early  intestine  troubles  was  the  Mormon 
war,  led  by  Joseph  Smith,  who  first  organized  the  Mor- 
mon Society,  at  Fayette,  New  York,  June  1,  1830.  It 
then  numbered  but  thirty  members.  In  1831,  the  whole 
church  removed,  temporarily,  to  Kirtland,  Ohio,  and  sub- 
sequently located  at  Independence,  Missouri.  At  that  time 
the  sect  numbered  nearly  2,000.  Their  assumptions  of 
superiority,  their  intolerance  of  “gentiles,”  and  their  anti- 
slavery opinions,  made  them  obnoxious  to  the  people  of 
Missouri.  In  1838,  the  whole  colony  was  violently  ex- 
pelled from  that  State,  and  in  1839,  the  society,  in  a body, 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Hancock  county,  where  they 
founded  a city  called  Nauvoo.  The  colony  now  numbered 
some  15,000,  and  among  the  new  accessions  were  Brigham 
Young,  Orson  Hyde,  Herber  C.  Kimball,  and  Parley  P. 
Pratt.  As  in  Missouri,  they  soon  became  unpopular,  and 
42 


48 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


for  a series  of  years  there  was  an  open  state  of  warfare 
existing  between  them  and  the  “gentiles.”  Their  leaders 
were  repeatedly  arrested  for  violations  of  law.  In  June* 
1844,  there  was  an  uprising  of  the  Mormons  against  the 
laws  of  the  State,  and  Gov.  Ford  took  the  field  in  person, 
with  a militia  force,  to  keep  the  peace.  Joseph  Smith 
and  Hiram,  his  brother,  and  two  or  three  other  leaders, 
were  surrendered  to  the  Governor,  upon  his  pledge  of  the 
honor  of  the  State  that  they  should  have  a fair  trial. 
They  were  lodged  in  jail  at  Carthage,  but  during  the  after- 
noon of  June  27th,  a mob  of  200  disguised  men  assem- 
bled at  the  jail,  overpowered  the  guard,  and  shot  and  killed 
both  of  the  Smiths.  (See  Ford’s  History.) 

At  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith,  Brigham  Young  was 
elected  President,  and  he  hurried  forward  the  building  of 
the  great  temple,  which  had  been  begun  by  Smith,  but 
from  that  time  forward  there  was  a reign  of  terror  in  that 
section,  and  Nauvoo  was  fairly  besieged.  The  temple  was 
completed  one  day  and  demolished  the  next.  The  war 
was  varied  by  arson  and  secret  murder,  on  both  sides.  In 
January,  1846,  the  “high  council”  announced  that  a final 
home  was  to  be  sought  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  emigration  commenced  in  the  following  month,  but 
in  September,  the  impatient  people  of  the  neighborhood 
poured  in  and  drove  out  the  little  remnant  with  fire  and 
sword.  They  settled  at  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  which  was  then 
a part  of  the  possessions  of  Mexico,  and  since  it  became 
a Territory  of  the  United  States,  the  Mormons  have  given 
the  General  Government  quite  as  much  trouble  as  they 
gave  Illinois. 

State  Government — 1834-88. 

The  fifth  State  government  was  inaugurated  December 
8,  1834,  with  Joseph  Duncan,  of  Morgan,  as  Governor; 
Alex.  M.  Jenkins,  of  Jackson,  Lieutenant-Governor;  Alex. 
P.  Field,  of  Union,  Secretary  of  State;  James  T.  B.  Stapp, 


APPENDIX. 


49 


of  Fayette,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts ; John  Dement,  of 
Franklin,  Treasurer;  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  of  Sangamon, 
Attorney-General. 

The  Ninth  General  Assembly  convened  December  1,  1834, 
and  adjourned  February  13,  1835.  It  convened  again 
December  7,  1835,  and  adjourned  January  18,  1836.  Lieut. - 
Gov.  Jenkins  presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Leonard 
White  was  elected  Secretary.  James  Semple  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  David  Frickett  Clerk. 

One  of  the  eminent  men  of  this  General  Assembly  was 
Adam  W.  Snyder,  of  Belleville.  He  was  the  Democratic 
nominee  for  Governor  in  1842,  but  died  before  the  elec- 
tion, when  Thomas  Ford  was  nominated  in  his  stead.  He 
was  buried  at  Belleville,  and  on  his  tombstone  is  in- 
scribed these  words  : “Ye  men  of  genius,  tread  lightly  o?er 
his  grave : he  was  your  kinsman.” 

Thomas  Mather  was  another  member  of  this  body  who 
became  widely  known,  and  exercised  a controlling  influence 
in  the  political  affairs  of  the  State. 

Indian  Wars. 

Like  all  the,  Territories  of  the  United  States,  Illinois  had 
her  trials  with  the  Indians,  of  which  there  were  many 
tribes,  whose  conflicts  among  themselves  were  more  fre- 
quent than  with  the  whites,  which  kept  the  Territorial, 
State  and  National  authorities  under  arms  for  many  years 
in  order  to  subdue  them.  In  1827,  we  had  what  is  called 
the  Winnebago  War.  In  June  of  that  year  we  had  an 
engagement  with  the  Winnebagoes  in  the  Galena  country, 
in  which  their  Chief,  Bed  Bird,  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render, which  terminated  the  war.  Bed  Bird  was  kept  in 
jail  a long  time,  and  we  are  told  by  Ford  that  he  died  in 
prison  the  victim  of  regret  and  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  his 
liberty.  The  Black  Hawk  War,  which  is  minutely  de- 
scribed by  Ford,  prevailed  from  the  spring  of  1831  to 
August  1832,  and  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Bad  Axe,  on 


50 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


the  Mississippi  river,  August  2,  in  which  the  Indians 
were  utterly  routed.  Black  Hawk  and  a number  of  his 
tribe  were  taken  prisoners,  and  afterward  conveyed  to 
Washington,  where  they  had  an  interview  with  President 
Jackson,  whom  Black  Hawk  addressed  as  follows : 

“ I am  a man  and  you  are  another.  We  did  not  expect 
to  conquer  the  white  people.  I took  up  the  hatchet  to 
revenge  injuries,  which  could  no  longer  be  borne.  Had  I 
borne  them  longer,  my  people  would  have  said,  Black 
Hawk  is  a squaw, — he  is  too  old  to  be  a chief, — he  is  no 
Sac.  This  caused  me  to  raise  the  war-whoop.  I say  no 
more  of  it.  All  is  known  to  you.  Keokuk  once  was  here ; 
you  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  when  he  wanted  to  return 
you  sent  him  back  to  his  nation.  Black  Hawk  expects 
that,  like  Keokuk,  we  will  be  permitted  to  return,  too.” 

From  Washington  they  were  taken  to  Fortress  Monroe, 
where  they  remained  prisoners  until  the  4th  of  June,  1833, 
when  they  were  returned  to  their  own  country,  by  order 
of  the  President.  Black  Hawk  lived  until  the  3d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1840,  when  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  at  the  age 
of  eighty  years,  and  was  buried  on  the  banks  of  the  great 
river  where  he  had  spent  most  of  his  life. 

The  Winnebago  War  terminated  under  the  Adminis- 
tration of  Gov.  Edwards,  and  the  Black  Hawk  under  that 
of  Gov.  Reynolds. 

After  the  battle  of  Bad  Axe  the  several  Indian  tribes 
turned  their  faces  toward  the  setting  sun,  and  we  have  now 
no  visible  recollections  of  them  save  through  the  mounds  they 
builded,  the  counties,  rivers,  towns  and  cities  which  bear  their 
names,  and  “ Starved  Rock,”  a most  wonderful  memento, 
which  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  Illinois  river,  a 
mile  distant  from  Utica,  LaSalle  county.  It  stands  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river,  and  its  surface 
is  equal  to  a half  acre  of  ground,  and  is  heavily  studded 
with  timber.  It  is  perpendicular  on  all  sides,  except  the 
southeast,  where  a natural  rock  stairway  leads  to  the 
cavern,  high  up  in  the  rock,  wThich  is  capable  of  holding 


APPENDIX. 


51 


many  persons.  Peck’s  Gazetteer  of  Illinois , issued  in  1884, 
has  this  to  say  of  an  incident  connected  with  this  famous 
rock,  and  from  which  it  derived  its  name : 

“ Tradition  says  that  after  the  Illinois  Indians  had  killed 
Pontiac,  the  French  Governor,  at  Detroit,  the  northern 
Indians  made  war  upon  them.  A band  of  the  Illinois,  in 
attempting  to  escape,  took  shelter  on  this  rock,  which 
they  soon  made  inaccessible  to  their  enemies,  and  where 
they  were  closely  besieged.  They  had  secured  provisions, 
but  their  only  resource  for  water  was  by  letting  down  ves- 
sels with  bark  ropes  to  the  river.  The  wily  besiegers  con- 
trived to  come  in  canoes  under  the  rock  and  cut  off  their 
buckets,  by  which  means  the  unfortunate  Illinois  were 
starved  to  death.  Many  years  after,  their  bones  were 
whitening  on  this  summit.” 


Tenth  General  Assembly— 1836-88. 

The  Tenth  General  Assembly  convened  December  15, 
1846,  and  adjourned  March  6,  1837.  It  convened  again 
July  10,  1837,  and  adjourned  July  22,  1837.  Lieut-Gov. 
Jenkins  having  resigned,  William  H.  Davidson  was  elected 
President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  and  Jesse  B.  Thomas,, 
Jr.,  Secretary.  James  Semple  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  David  Prickett  Clerk. 

This  was  the  General  Assembly  which  put  in  operation 
the  Internal  Improvement  system  of  1837,  of  which  we 
speak  in  detail  in  a subsequent  chapter.  In  this  body 
were  many  able,  intellectual  men.  In  the  Senate,  0.  IP. 
Browning,  Cyrus  Edwards,  William  J.  Gatewood  and  John 
Whiteside;  and  in  the  House,  Edward  D.  Baker,  John 
Dement,  John  Dougherty,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Jesse  K. 
Dubois,  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing,  Augustus 
C.  French,  John  J.  Hardin,  Abraham  Lincoln,  U.  F.  Lin- 
der, John  A,  McClernand,  William  A.  Richardson,  James 
Semple  and  James  Shields, — all  of  whom  afterward  won 
distinction. 


52 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


We  have  spoken  elsewhere  of  most  all  these  men,  and 
will  be  excused  if  we  digress  to  say  a word  of  Col.  Edward 
D.  Baker,  who  was  born  in  England,  brought  to  this  coun- 
try when  a child,  and  was  early  left  an  orphan  in  Phila- 
delphia. His  father  was  a weaver,  and  when  a boy  he 
worked  at  that  business  himself.  He  obtained  an  educa- 
tion under  many  difficulties ; first  studied  for  the  ministry, 
but  soon  turned  his  attention  to  the  law,  becoming  famous 
as  an  advocate.  He  was  serving  in  Congress  when  the 
Mexican  war  ensued,  but  resigned  his  seat  and  went  to 
Mexico  as  a Colonel  of  volunteers,  acquitting  himself  with 
credit  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo.  On  his  return  to 
Illinois  he  was  re-elected  to  Congress  from  the  Galena 
district.  In  1852,  he  settled  in  San  Francisco,  devoting  him- 
self to  his  profession ; he  subsequently  removed  to  Oregon, 
which  State  he  represented  as  a Senator  in  Congress,  taking 
his  seat  in  March,  1861.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Kebellion 
he  raised  a regiment,  and  while  gallantly  leading  it  in 
battle  at  Leesburg,  Virginia,  against  a superior  force,  he 
was  shot  from  his  horse  and  killed,  October  21,  1861.  Col. 
Baker  was  a man  of  great  intellectual  ability,  and  in  his 
day  was  not  excelled  as  an  orator. 

Governor  Duncan  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1790;  he  was 
self-educated;  was  an  ensign  at  the  brilliant  defense  of 
Fort  Stephenson  under  Col.  Croghan,  for  which  he  received 
from  Congress  the  testimonial  of  a sword,  February  13, 1835. 
He  settled  in  Illinois,  and  was  soon  elected  Major-General 
of  Militia.  Prior  to  his  election  as  Governor,  he  was  a 
Senator  in  the  Legislature,  and  originated  the  law  which 
established  common  schools  in  the  State,  and  was  a Rep- 
resentative in  Congress  from  1827  to  1835,  resigning  his 
seat  to  become  Governor.  He  died  at  Jacksonville,  Flor- 
ida, January  15,  1844. 

Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr.,  became  Attorney-General  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1835 ; Walter  B.  Scates  succeeded  him  January 


APPENDIX. 


53 


18,  1886,  and  U.  F.  Linder  succeeded  Scates  February  4, 
1887.  Levi  Davis  became  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts 
November  16,  1835.  Charles  Gregory  became  Treasurer, 
December  5,  1836;  he  was  succeeded  by  John  D.  White- 
side  March  4,  1837. 

First  and  Only  Duel  in  Illinois. 

In  Ford’s  History  we  find  this  account  of  the  first  and 
only  duel  in  Illinois : 

“ The  year  1820  was  signalized  by  the  first  and  last 
duel  which  was  ever  fought  in  Illinois.  This  took  place 
in  Belleville,  St.  Clair  county,  between  Alphonso  Stewart 
and  William  Bennett,  two  obscure  men.  The  seconds  had 
made  it  up  to  be  a sham  duel,  to  throw  ridicule  upon 
Bennett,  the  challenging  party.  Stewart  was  in  the  secret, 
but  Bennett,  his  adversary,  was  left  to  believe  it  a reality. 
They  were  to  fight  with  rifles ; the  guns  were  loaded  with 
blank  cartridges;  and  Bennett,  somewhat  suspecting  a 
trick,  rolled  a ball  into  his  gun,  without  the  knowledge  of 
his  seconds,  or  of  the  other  party.  The  word  to  fire  was 
given,  and  Stewart  fell,  mortally  wounded.  Bennett  made 
his  escape,  but  two  years  afterwards  he  was  captured  in 
Arkansas,  brought  back  to  the  State,  indicted,  tried  and 
convicted  of  murder.  A great  effort  was  made  to  procure 
him  a pardon,  but  Gov.  Bond  would  yield  to  no  entreaties 
in  his  favor,  and  Bennett  suffered  the  extreme  penalty  of 
the  law,  by  hanging,  in  the  presence  of  a great  multitude 
of  people. 

“This  was  the  first  and  last  duel  ever  fought  in  the 
State  by  any  of  its  citizens.  The  hanging  of  Bennett 
made  dueling  discreditable  and  unpopular,  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  that  abhorrence  of  the  practice  which  has 
ever  since  been  felt  and  expressed  by  the  people  of  Illi- 
nois. ” 

There  were  afterward  some  pretences  at  duels  between 
some  of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  State,  notably  that 
of  1842,  between  James  Shields  and  Abraham  Lincoln, 
which  was  caused  by  the  publication  of  an  article  in  a news- 
paper, the  Sangamo  Journal , reflecting  on  the  official  con- 
duct of  Shields,  while  Auditor  of  State ; and  between 
Shields  and  Wm.  Butler,  growing  out  of  the  same  matter. 
But  the  framers  of  the  constitution  of  1848  put  an 


54 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


end  to  the  barbarous  practice,  in  a summary  manner,  in 
the  adoption  of  Section  25  of  Article  13,  which  is  in  these 
words : 

“Any  person  who  shall,  after  the  adoption  of  this  com 
stitution,  fight  a duel,  or  send  or  accept  a challenge  for 
that  purpose,  or  be  aider  or  abettor  in  fighting  a duel, 
shall  be  deprived  of  the  right  of  holding  any  office  of 
honor  or  profit  in  this  State,  and  shall  be  punished  other- 
wise, in  such  manner  as  is  or  may  be  prescribed  by  law.” 

The  framers  of  the  constitution  of  1870,  doubtless  be- 
lieving that  the  civilization  of  the  age  was  against  duel- 
ing, did  not  carry  that  provision  into  the  new  constitution, 
thus  leaving  public  opinion  to  frown  down  the  code. 

State  Government — 1838-42. 

The  sixth  State  government  was  inaugurated  December 
7,  1838,  with  Thomas  Carlin  as  Governor;  Stinson  H. 
Anderson,  Lieutenant-Governor;  Alexander  P.  Field,  Sec- 
retary of  State ; Levi  Davis,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts ; 
John  D.  Whiteside,  Treasurer;  George  W.  Olney,  Attor- 
ney-General. 

The  Eleventh  General  Assembly  convened  December  3, 
1838,  and  adjourned  March  4,  1839.  In  1839,  the  capital 
was  removed  to  Springfield,  and  a second  session  convened 
there  December  9,  and  adjourned  February  3,  1840. 

Lieut. -Gov.  Anderson  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
Benjamin  Bond  was  elected  Secretary.  William  L.  D. 
Ewing  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  David 
Prickett  Clerk. 

There  was  quite  a number  of  eminent  men  in  this 
Legislature,  among  whom  we  mention  Isaac  P.  Walker, 
who  subsequently  emigrated  to  Wisconsin,  and  wras  elected 
a United  States  Senator  from  that  State  in  1848. 


APPENDIX* 


00 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

HOW  A CHALLENGE  WAS  AVOIDED, 


This  laughable,  not  to  say  serious,  incident  in  the  early 
life  of  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer,  is  related  to  us  by  one  who 
was  cognizant  of  the  affair,  and  knew  all  of  the  parties 
mentioned.  When  W.  A.  Richardson  was  elected  to 
the  State  Senate  in  1838,  his  opponent  was  Dr.  Isaac 
Vandeventer,  a Whig,  and  one  of  the  purest  men  in  the 
State,  but  wholly  ignorant  of  party  usages  or  practices. 
He  had  been  selected  by  the  Whigs  as  the  man  most 
likely  to  defeat  Richardson,  for  the  District  was  largely 
Democratic,  and  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  now  of  the  Supreme 
bench,  and  James  W.  Singleton,  since  a member  of  Con- 
gress, then  both  young  men,  undertook  the  management 
of  his  campaign.  When  the  returns  came  in,  it  was  found 
that  Richardson  had  beaten  him  only  four  or  live  votes ; 
and  investigation  showed  that,  on  Sugar  Creek,  seven  or 
eight  illegal  votes  had  been  cast  for  him,  some  of  which 
were  polled  by  men  having  in  their  veins  African  blood. 
Dickey  and  Singleton  resided  at  Rushville,  and  they  sent 
for  Vandeventer  to  come  and  see  them,  with  the  view  of 
instituting  proceedings  to  contest  the  election.  Contesting 
was  regarded  as  unpopular,  and  to  throw  the  burden  on 
Richardson,  they  induced  Vandeventer  to  send  him  a letter, 
setting  forth  the  fact  that  he  claimed  to  be  the  Senator 
elect,  and  to  save  expense  and  trouble,  to  request  Rich- 
ardson to  resign  his  certificate  and  run  the  race  over 
at  a special  election, — to  which  Richardson  replied,  in 


56 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


substance,  that  he  was  fairly  elected,  but  had  no  objections 
to  running  the  race  over,  provided  he  could  be  assured 
that  the  Doctor  would  “stay  beat,”  and  if  he  would  give 
bond,  with  approved  security,  to  that  effect,  he  would 
consent  to  make  the  race  over. 

Dickey  and  Singleton  were  indignant,  and  insisted  that 
it  was  a personal  insult,  that  could  only  “ be  wiped  out 
in  blood,”  and  urged  Yande venter  to  challenge  Richard- 
son, and  consenting  to  do  so,  they  undertook  the  prepar- 
ation of  the  letter  inviting  the  hostile  meeting.  Vande- 
venter  went  to  his  hotel  for  dinner  and  was  to  return  to 
Dickey’s  office  at  1 o’clock  that  day  and  sign  the  chal- 
lenge, and  then  one  of  them  was  to  bear  it  to  Richard- 
son, but  1 o’clock  came,  2,  and  then  3,  and  Yandeventer 
came  not ; and  on  inquiry  it  was  ascertained  that  he  had 
paid  his  bill  and  left  for  home.  Thus  ended  the  duel  and 
the  contest,  for  Dr.  Vandeventer  was  never  again  seen  in 
Mr.  Dickey’s  office. 

Twelfth  General  Assembly — 1840-42. 

The  Twelfth  General  Assembly  convened  November  23, 
1840,  and  adjourned  December  5.  It  convened  again  De- 
cember 7,  and  adjourned  March  1,  1841. 

Lieut. -Gov.  Anderson  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
Merritt  L.  Coveil  was  elected  Secretary.  William  L.  D. 
Ewing  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  John  Cal- 
houn Clerk. 

WTckliffe  Kitchell  became  Attorney-General,  March  5, 
1839;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Secretary  of  State,  November 
30,  1840;  James  Shields,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts, 
March  4,  1841,  and  Milton  Carpenter,  Treasurer,  March 
6,  1841. 

Josiah  Lamborn,  of  Morgan,  became  Attorney-General, 
December  3,  1840. 

Gov.  Carlin  was  born  in  Kentucky,  July  18,  1789;  he 
was  self-educated;  removed  to  Illinois  in  1812;  his  first 


APPENDIX. 


57 


office  was  Sheriff  of  Greene  county;  in  1834,  President 
Jackson  appointed  him  Receiver  of  Public  Moneys.  He 
was  Governor  at  the  time  Illinois  became  overwhelmingly 
involved  in  debt  through  the  internal  improvement  sys- 
tem, and  he  used  his  best  ability  in  piloting  the  ship  of 
State  through  the  financial  storm.  After  his  term  as 
Governor  he  removed  to  Carrollton,  and  in  1849,  was 
elected  Representative  to  the  Legislature,  vice  J.  D.  Fry, 
resigned.  He  died  February  14,  1852. 

Chicago. 

No  city  in  the  world  has  had  so  prosperous  or  marvel- 
ous a growth  as  Chicago,  and  a history  of  Illinois  would 
not  be  complete  without  a special  reference  to  this  great  and 
grand  metropolis.  The  Gazetteer  of  1823  describes  Chicago 
as  “a  village  in  Pike  county,  situated  on  Lake  Michigan, 
near  Chicago  creek,  containing  twelve  or  fifteen  houses 
and  about  sixty  or  seventy  inhabitants.” 

Chicago  was  first  laid  out  as  a town  in  the  autumn  of 
1829.  The  first  map  made  of  the  place  was  drawn  by 
James  Thompson,  and  bears  date  of  August  4,  1830. 
Cook  county,  of  which  Chicago  is  the  county  seat,  was 
not  organized  until  January  15,  1831.  The  first  steamer 
to  enter  the  port  was  in  1832.  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  was 
a passenger,  en  route  to  take  part  in  the  conference  of 
the  army,  which  related  to  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Black 
Hawk,  who  had  been  utterly  routed  at  the  battle  of  Bad 
Axe.  The  year  1833  was  signalized  by  the  establishment 
of  a postoffice  and  weekly  mail;  the  same  year  a town 
government  was  organized,  and  a weekly  newspaper,  en- 
titled the  Chicago  Democrat , was  founded  by  John  Calhoun. 
In  1836,  the  then  great  enterprise  of  the  western  world,  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  was  inaugurated.  In  1837,  the 
Legislature  passed  an  act  incorporating  the  City  of  Chicago, 
(see  House  and  Senate  Journals  of  1837),  and  in  the 


58 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


May  following  the  city  was  organized  under  that  charter, 
and  William  B.  Ogden  was  elected  mayor.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  city  was  then  but  4,179.  The  records  of  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  show  that  Chicago  has 
been  listed  as  one  of  the  towns  of  the  State  in  eight  dif- 
ferent counties:  first  as  being  in  St.  Clair;  then  Madison; 
then  Edwards  ; then  Crawford ; then  Clark ; then  Pike ; 
then  attached  to  Fulton  temporarily;  then  Putnam;  then 
it  occupied  a place  in  what  is  known  as  unorganized  ter- 
ritory, and  then  the  county  of  Cook  was  organized. 

The  first  railroad  built  to  Chicago  was  the  Galena  and 
Chicago  Union,  the  first  ten  miles  of  which  was  con- 
structed in  1847.  Now  that  road  forms  a part  of  the 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  Bailway,  whose  main  lines  and 

branches  number  4,216  miles  of  magnificant  railway, 
reaching  far  out  into  the  broad  domain  of  the  Great  West. 

W7hen  the  great  fire  of  October,  1871,  laid  the  city 
in  ashes,  it  had  acquired  a population  of  334,270. 
Within  two  years  after,  the  city  was  rebuilt  upon  a 
grander  scale  than  before.  The  United  States  census  of 
1880  gave  the  city  a population  of  503,000;  and  from 
a single  railroad  "in  1847,  they  have  multiplied  to 
twenty-one,  wffiich  aggregate,  in  miles,  21,394,  and 
radiate  to  all  points  of  the  compass. 

New  York  and  Boston  have,  respectively,  according  to 
the  United  States  census  of  1880,  populations  of  1,200,000 
and  350,000.  In  these  cities  one  sees  the  growth  of  over 
two  hundred  years,  or  ten  generations,  and  the  relics  of 
colonial  times,  while  in  Chicago  is  seen  the  growth  of  less 
than  fifty  years,  and  a population,  as  shown  by  the  same 
census,  of  503,000. 

From  that  single  weekly  newspaper  the  press  has  mag- 
nified indefinitely,  and  in  character,  power  and  circulation 
is  not  surpassed,  if  equaled,  by  that  of  any  city  in  the 
world. 


APPENDIX. 


59 


State  Government — 1842-46. 

The  seventh  State  government  was  inaugurated  Decem- 
ber 8,  1842,  with  Thomas  Ford,  of  Ogle,  as  Governor; 
John  Moore,  of  McLean,  Lieutenant-Governor;  Lyman 
Trumbull,  of  St.  Clair,  Secretary  of  State;  James  Shields, 
of  Randolph,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts ; Milton  Carpen- 
ter, of  Hamilton,  Treasurer;  Josiah  Lamborn,  Attorney- 
General. 

The  Thirteenth  General  Assembly  convened  December 
5,  1842,  and  adjourned  March  6,  1848.  Lieut. -Gov.  Moore 
presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Isaac  S.  Berry  was  elected 
Secretary.  Samuel  Hackelton  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing  Clerk. 

There  were  many  strong  men,  intellectually,  in  this 
body.  The  names  which  will  sound  familiar  to  the  reader 
are  Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  of  Coles;  Gustavus  Kcerner,  of 
St.  Clair;  Stephen  T.  Logan,  of  Sangamon;  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,  of  Gallatin,  now  of  Sangamon ; and  ex-Lieut. - 
Gov.  Pierre  Menard,  of  Tazewell,  all  of  whom  attained 
prominence,  and  have  often  been  honored  with  various 
public  trusts. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MURDER  OF  ELIJAH  P,  LOVEJOY, 


Establishment  of  his  Press  in  St.  Louis— Its  Removal  to  Alton— Its  Destruc- 
tion by  a Mob— Re-establishment  of  the  Paper— An  Attempt  to  Tar  and 
Feather  Lovejoy— Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Alton  to  Compel  him  to 
Abandon  the  Publication  of  his  Paper— A Brave  Speech  in  Self-De- 
fense—Murder  of  Lovejoy  and  Destruction  of  His  Fourth  and  Last 
Press— His  Funeral, 


In  all  her  history,  Illinois  has  never  been  famed  for 
deeds  of  cruelty  and  wrong;  but  one  of  the  most  terrible 


60 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


crimes,  which  stands  as  a living  disgrace  in  the  history 
of  Illinois,  is  the  heartless  murder  of  Rev.  Elijah  P. 
Lovejoy,  brother  of  the  late  Owen  Lovejoy,  by  a pro- 
slavery mob  at  Alton,  on  the  night  of  November  7,  1837. 
The  event  is  worthy  of  more  than  a passing  mention. 
Mr.  Lovejoy  was  the  editor  of  the  Alton  Observer , a reli- 
gious paper,  which  had  been  originally  started  in  St.  Louis 
in  1833,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  he  conducted  for  nearly  three  years ; 
but  in  June,  1836,  the  owners,  fearing  that  the 
press  would  be  destroyed  by  mob  violence,  deter- 
mined to  remove  it  to  Alton,  and  it  had  hardly  been 
packed  for  shipment  before  a lawless  body  of  men  entered 
the  premises  and  carried  away  a portion  of  the  press  and 
type  and  threw  them  into  the  Mississippi  river.  The  rem- 
nant was  shipped  to  Alton,  arriving  there  on  Sunday ; but 
the  mob  spirit  of  St.  Louis  had  preceded  Mr.  Lovejoy,  and 
that  night  a mob  collected  and  threw  what  was  left  of  the 
printing  office  and  Mr.  Lovejoy’s  household  furniture 
into  the  river.  Next  day,  however,  the  better  class  of 
citizens  assembled  in  a public  meeting,  denounced  the 
action  of  the  mob  in  the  strongest  terms,  and  subscribed 
money  sufficient  to  buy  another  printing  office  and  reim- 
burse Mr.  Lovejoy  in  his  personal  losses;  and  on  the  8th 
of  September  the  first  number  of  the  Alton  Observer  made 
its  appearance;  but  in  Alton  Mr.  Lovejoy’s  life  and 
property  were  as  much  at  the  mercy  of  the  whims  of  the 
pro-slavery  outlaws  as  they  had  been  in  St.  Louis,  and 
he  was  never  free  from  personal  insult  or  assault ; he  was 
pursued  by  day  and  by  night,  at  home  and  abroad;  four 
times  was  his  press  destroyed,  and  in  defending  the  last  he 
fell  a martyr  to  the  cause  of  free  speech  and  free  press. 

It  is  generally  understood  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  an  ex- 
treme abolitionist,  but  a careful  reading  of  the  utter- 
ances of  his  paper,  as  reproduced  in  his  Life,  written  by 


APPENDIX. 


61 


his  brother  Owen  warrants  us  in  saying,  that  he  was  sim- 
ply an  emancipationist. 

In  Tanner’s  Martyrdom  of  Lovejoy,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing incident,  illustrative  of  the  moral  courage  of  Mr.  Love- 
joy: 

“On  one  occasion,  some  eight  or  ten  citizens  of  Alton 
determined  to  tar  and  feather  him  and  then  send  him 
adrift  in  a canoe  down  the  Mississippi  river.  He  lived  at 
Hunterstown  about  three-quarters  of  a mile  from  Alton, 
and  between  ten  and  eleven  o’clock  at  night,  while  on  his 
way  to  a drug  store  in  Alton  to  procure  some  medicine 
for  his  wife,  he  was  met  by  these  men,  all  disguised, 
who  stopped  him  and  at  once  disclosed  to  him  their  pur- 
pose. With  the  most  perfect  composure  he  replied : 'Gen- 
tlemen, I have  but  a single  request  to  make  of  you;  my 
wife  is  dangerously  ill,  and  it  is  necessary  that  she  should 
have  this  prescription,  which  I was  on  the  way  to  town 
to  procure.  Will  one  of  you  take  it  and  see  that  it  is 
delivered  at  the  house,  but  without  intimating  what  is 
about  to  befall  me  ? I am  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  am 
ready  to  go  with  you.’  For  a few  moments  entire  silence 
reigned,  which  was  broken  by  a physician,  who  made  up 
in  part  the  disguised  party,  exclaiming : ‘ Boys,  I cannot 

lay  my  hands  on  as  brave  a man  as  this,’  and,  turning 
away,  was  followed  by  his  accomplices,  and  Mr.  Lovejoy 
was  spared  the  degradation  of  being  tarred  and  feathered.” 

It  would  seem  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  had  resigned  himself  to 
fate  and  was  ready  for  the  worst;  but  he  did  not  have 
long  to  wait  for  the  culmination  of  the  outrages  which  had 
followed  his  pathway  for  so  many  years.  On  the  2d  of 
November,  a public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Alton  was 
held  to  take  action  in  regard  to  the  further  publication 
of  the  Observer  under  his  editorship,  and  after  the  appoint- 
ment of  a committee  to  prepare  resolutions  expressive  of 
the  sense  of  the  people  of  the  community,  adjourned 
until  the  3d.  On  the  reassembling  of  the  meeting,  the 
committee,  through  its  chairman,  Cyrus  Edwards,  then  a 
Whig  State  Senator,  reported  the  resolutions,  the  purport 
of  which  was  that  Mr.  Lovejoy  should  abandon  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Observer . U.  F.  Linder,  a member  of  the 


62 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


committee,  and  then  the  Attorney-General  of  the  State, 
supported  the  passage  of  the  resolutions  in  a speech  of 
much  earnestness;  and  as  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  present,  he 
was  permitted  to  reply  in  his  own  behalf.  We  copy  his 
remarks  in  full,  as  we  find  them  printed  in  a little  volume 
published  in  1838,  by  Rev.  Edward  Beecher,  brother  of 
Henry  Ward  Beecher: 

“I  feel,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  is  the  most  solemn 
moment  of  my  life.  I feel,  I trust,  in  some  measure,  the 
responsibilities  which,  at  this  hour,  I sustain  to  these, 
my  fellow  citizens,  to  the  chureh  of  which  I am  a min- 
ister, to  my  country,  and  to  God.  And  let  me  beg  of  you, 
before  I proceed  further,  to  construe  nothing  I shall  say 
as  being  disrespectful  to  this  assembly.  I have  no  such 
feeling;  far  from  it.  And  if  I do  not  act  or  speak  accord- 
ing to  their  wishes  at  all  times,  it  is  because  I can  not  con- 
scientiously do  it. 

“ It  is  proper  I should  state  the  whole  matter,  as  I under- 
stand it,  before  this  audience.  I do  not  stand  here  to 
argue  the  question,  as  presented  by  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee. My  whole  wonder  is  that  the  honorable  gentleman 
(Hon.  Cyrus  Edwards,  Senator  from  Madison  county,  and 
the  Whig  candidate  for  Governor),  the  chairman  of  that 
committee,  for  whose  character  I entertain  great  respect, 
though  I have  not  the  pleasure  of  his  personal  acquaint- 
ance, my  only  wonder  is  how  that  gentleman  could  have 
brought  himself  to  submit  such  a report. 

“ Mr.  Chairman,  I do  not  admit  that  it  is  the  business 
of  this  assembly  to  decide  whether  I shall  or  shall  not 
publish  a newspaper  in  this  city.  The  gentlemen  have, 
as  the  lawyers  say,  made  a wrong  issue.  I have  the  right 
to  do  it.  I know  that  I have  the  right  freely  to  speak 
and  publish  my  sentiments,  subject  only  to  the  laws  of 
the. land  for  the  abuse  of  that  right.  This  right  was  given 
me  by  my  Maker;  and  is  solemnly  guaranteed  to  me  by 
the  Constitution  of  these  United  States  and  of  this  State. 
What  I wish  to  know  of  you  is,  whether  you  will  protect 
me  in  the  exercise  of  this  right;  or  whether,  as  heretofore, 
I am  to  be  subjected  to  personal  indignity  and  outrage. 
These  resolutions,  and  the  measures  proposed  by  them, 
are  spoken  of  as  a compromise — a compromise  between 
two  parties.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  is  not  so.  There  is  but 
one  party  here.  It  is  simply  a question  whether  the  law7 
shall  be  enforced,  or  whether  the  mob  shall  be  allowed, 


IlKiH,. 


i 

Of  THE 
KITY  OF  \l 


APPENDIX. 


63 


as  they  do  now,  to  continue  to  trample  it  under  their  feet, 
by  violating  with  impunity  the  rights  of  an  innocent  in- 
dividual. 

“Mr.  Chairman,  what  have  I to  compromise?  If  freely 
to  forgive  those  who  have  so  greatly  injured  me,  if  to  pray 
for  their  temporal  and  eternal  happiness,  if  still  to  wish 
for  the  prosperity  of  your  city  and  State,  notwithstanding 
all  the  indignities  I have  suffered  in  it ; if  this  be  the  com- 
promise intended,  then  do  I willingly  make  it.  My  rights 
have  been  shamefully,  wickedly  outraged ; this  I know, 
and  feel,  and  can  never  forget.  But  I can  and  do  freely 
forgive  those  who  have  done  it. 

“ But  if  by  a compromise  is  meant  that  I should  cease 
from  doing  that  which  duty  requires  of  me,  I cannot  make 
it.  And  the  reason  is,  that  I fear  God  more  than  I fear 
man.  Think  not  that  I would  lightly  go  contrary  to  pub- 
lic sentiment  around  me.  The  good  opinion  of  my  fellow- 
men  is  dear  to  me,  and  I would  sacrifice  anything  but 
principle  to  obtain  their  good  wishes ; but  when  they  ask 
me  to  surrender  this,  they  ask  for  more  than  I can — than 
I dare  give.  Reference  is  made  to  the  fact  that  I offered 
a few  days  since  to  give  up  the  editorship  of  the  ‘Observer’ 
into  other  hands.  This  is  true.  I did  so,  because  it  was 
thought  or  said  by  some  that  perhaps  the  paper  would  be 
better  patronized  in  other  hands.  They  declined  accept- 
ing my  offer,  however,  and  since  then  we  have  heard  from 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  the  paper  in  all  parts  of  the 
State.  There  was  but  one  sentiment  among  them,  and 
this  was  that  the  paper  could  be  sustained  in  no  other 
hands  than  mine.  It  is  also  a very  different  question, 
whether  I shall  voluntarily,  or  at  the  request  of  friends, 
yield  up  my  post ; or  whether  I shall  forsake  it  at  the  de- 
mand of  a mob.  The  former  I am  at  all  times  ready  to 
do,  when  circumstances  occur  to  require  it,  as  I will  never 
put  my  personal  wishes  or  interests  in  competition  with 
the  cause  of  that  Master  whose  minister  I am.  But  the 
latter,  be  assured,  I never  will  do.  God,  in  his  providence 
— so  say  all  my  brethren,  and  so  I think, — has  devolved 
upon  me  the  responsibility  of  maintaining  my  ground  here ; 
and,  Mr.  Chairman,  I am  determined  to  do  it.  A voice 
comes  to  me  from  Maine,  from  Massachusetts,  from  Con- 
necticut, from  New  York,  from  Pennsylvania ; yea,  from 
Kentucky,  from  Mississippi,  from  Missouri,  calling  upon 
me  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  dear  in  heaven  or  earth, 
to  stand  fast;  and  by  the  help  of  God,  I will  stand . I 
43 


64 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


know  I am  but  one,  and  you  are  many.  My  strength 
would  avail  but  little  against  you  all.  You  can  crush  me 
if  you  will ; but  I shall  die  at  my  post,  for  I can  not,  and 
will  not,  forsake  it. 

“ Why  should  I flee  from  Alton  ? Is  not  this  a free 
State?  When  assailed  by  a mob  at  St.  Louis,  I came 
hither,  as  to  the  home  of  freedom  and  of  the  law.  The 
mob  has  pursued  me  here,  and  why  should  I retreat  again  ? 
Where  can  I be  safe,  if  not  here  ? Have  I not  a right  to 
claim  the  protection  of  the  law  ? What  more  can  I have 
in  any  other  place?  Sir,  the  very  act  of  retreating  will 
embolden  the  mob  to  follow  me  wherever  I go.  No,  sir; 
there  is  no  way  to  escape  the  mob,  but  to  abandon  the 
path  of  duty ; and  that,  God  helping  me,  I will  never  do. 

“ It  has  been  said  here,  that  my  hand  is  against  every 
man,  and  every  man’s  hand  is  against  me.  The  last  part 
of  the  declaration  is  too  painfully  true.  I do  indeed  find 
almost  every  hand  lifted  against  me ; but  against  whom  in 
this  place  has  my  hand  been  raised?  I appeal  to  every 
individual  present ; whom  of  you  have  I injured  ? Whose 
character  have  I traduced  ? Whose  family  have  I molested  ? 
Whose  business  have  I meddled  with?  If  any,  let  him 
rise  here  and  testify  against  me.  No  one  answers. 

“And  do  not  your  resolutions  say  that  you  find  nothing 
against  my  private  or  personal  character  ? And  does  any 
one  believe  that  if  there  was  anything  to  be  found,  it  would 
not  be  found  and  brought  forth  ? If,  in  anything,  I have 
offended  against  the  law,  I am  not  so  popular  in  this 
community  as  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  convict  me. 
You  have  courts,  and  judges,  and  juries;  they  find 
nothing  against  me.  And  now  you  come  together 
for  the  purpose  of  driving  out  a confessedly  innocent 
man,  for  no  cause  but  that  he  dares  to  think  and  speak 
as  his  conscience  and  his  God  dictates.  Will  conduct  like 
this  stand  the  scrutiny  of  your  country?  of  posterity? 
above  all,  of  the  judgment-day?  For,  remember,  the 
Judge  of  that  day  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  Pause,  I 
beseech  you,  and  reflect.  The  present  excitement  will  soon 
be  over;  the  voice  of  conscience  will  at  last  be  heard. 
And  at  some  season  of  honest  thought,  even  in  this  world, 
as  you  review  the  scenes  of  this  hour,  you  will  be  com- 
pelled to  say,  ‘He  was  right;  he  was  right.’ 

“ But  you  have  been  exhorted  to  be  lenient  and  compas- 
sionate ; and  in  driving  me  away  to  affix  no  unnecessary 
disgrace  upon  me.  Sir,  I reject  all  such  compassion.  You 
can  not  disgrace  me.  Scandal  and  falsehood  and  calumny 


APPENDIX. 


65 


have  already  done  their  worst.  My  shoulders  have  borne 
the  burthen  till  it  sits  easy  upon  them.  You  may  hang 
me  up,  as  the  mob  hung  up  the  individuals  of  Vicksburg ! 
You  may  burn  me  at  the  stake,  as  they  did  McIntosh  at 
St.  Louis ; or,  you  may  tar  and  feather  me,  or  throw  me 
into  the  Mississippi,  as  you  have  often  threatened  to  do, 
but  you  can  not  disgrace  me.  I,  and  I alone,  can  dis- 
grace myself ; and  the  deepest  of  all  disgrace  would  be,  at 
a time  like  this,  to  deny  my  Master  by  forsaking  his  cause. 
He  died  for  me;  and  I were  most  unworthy  to  bear  his 
name,  should  I refuse,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  him. 

“ Again,  you  have  been  told  that  I have  a family,  who 
are  dependent  on  me ; and  this  has  been  given  as  a reason 
why  I should  be  driven  off  as  gently  as  possible.  It  is 
true,  Mr.  Chairman,  I am  a husband  and  a father;  and 
this  it  is  that  adds  the  bitterest  ingredient  to  the 
cup  of  sorrow  I am  called  to  drink.  I am  made  to 
feel  the  wisdom  of  the  apostle’s  advice : ‘ It  is  better 
not  to  marry.  ’ I know,  sir,  that  in  this  contest 
I stake  not  my  life  only,  but  that  of  others  also. 
I do  not  expect  my  wife  will  ever  recover  from  the  shock 
received  at  the  awful  scenes,  through  which  she  was  called 
to  pass,  at  St.  Charles.  And  how  was  it  the  other  night, 
on  my  return  to  my  house?  I found  her  driven  to  the 
garret,  through  fear  of  the  mob,  who  were  prowling  round 
my  house.  And  scarcely  had  I entered  the  house  ere  my 
windows  were  broken  in  by  the  brickbats  of  the  mob ; and 
she  so  alarmed,  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  sleep  or 
rest  that  night.  I am  hunted  as  a partridge  upon  the 
mountains ; I am  pursued  as  a felon  through  your  streets  ; 
and  to  the  guardian  power  of  the  law  I look  in  vain  for 
that  protection  against  violence,  which  even  the  vilest 
criminal  makes  claim. 

“Yet,  think  not  that  1 am  unhappy.  Think  not  that  I 
regret  the  choice  that  I have  made.  While  all  around  me 
is  violence  and  tumult,  all  is  peace  within.  An  approving 
conscience,  and  the  rewarding  smile  of  God,  is  a full 
recompense  for  all  that  I forego  and  all  that  I endure. 
Yes,  sir,  I enjoy  a peace  which  nothing  can  destroy.  I 
sleep  sweetly  and  undisturbed,  except  when  awakened  by 
the  brickbats  of  the  mob. 

“No,  sir,  I am  not  unhappy.  I have  counted  the  costy 
and  stand  prepared  freely  to  offer  up  my  all  in  the 
service  of  God.  Yes,  sir,  I am  fully  aware  of  all  the  sac- 
rifice I make,  in  here  pledging  myself  to  continue  this 
contest  to  the  last.  (Forgive  these  tears, — I had  not 


661 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


intended  to  shed  them,  and  they  flow  not  for  myself,  but 
others.)  But  I am  commanded  to  forsake  father  and 
mother,  and  wife  and  children,  for  Jesus’  sake ; and  as 
his  professed  disciple  I stand  prepared  to  do  it.  The  time 
for  fulfilling  this  pledge  in  my  case,  it  seems  to  me,  has 
come.  Sir,  I dare  not  flee  away  from  Alton.  Should  I 
attempt  it,  I should  feel  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  with 
his  flaming  sword,  was  pursuing  me  wherever  I went.  It 
is  because  I fear  God  that  I am  not  afraid  of  all  who 
oppose  me  in  this  city.  No,  sir,  the  contest  has  com- 
menced here ; and  here  it  must  be  finished.  Before  God 
and  you  all,  I here  pledge  myself  to  continue  it,  if  need 
be,  till  death.  If  I fall,  my  grave  shall  be  made  in  Alton*” 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  powerful  as  it  was,  failed 
to  allay  the  madness  of  the  hour;  and  he  was  followed 
in  reply  by  Bev.  John  Hogan,  a Methodist  minister,  who 
afterwards  figured,  to  some  extent,  in  the  politics  of  St. 
Louis,  in  a speech  of  much  bitterness,  and  when  he  con- 
cluded, resolutions  1,  2 and  4 were  unanimously  adopted, 
while  8,  5 and  6,  those  which  counseled  peace  and  order, 
were  rejected,  and,  four  days  after,  Lovejoy  lost  his  life 
at  the  hands  of  the  mob. 

We  give  place  to  an  account  of  the  affair  by  Mr.  Tanner, 
who  was  in  the  warehouse  at  the  time  as  one  of  the  de- 
fenders of  the  property : 

“We  have  now  arrived  at  the  fatal  night  of  the  7th  of 
November,  1887,  and  I give  the  details  of  the  occurrence 
from  personal  notes  of  my  own.  The  fourth  press  had  been 
shipped  to  Alton  from  Cincinnati,  and  had  been  received 
in  the  dead  of  the  night  on  the  6th  by  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  in  presence  of  the  mayor,  and  taken  to  its  final 
destination.  We  were  fully  prepared  to  receive  and  de- 
fend it,  having,  in  the  building,  about  sixty  men,  well 
armed  and  drilled,  stationed  on  different  floors  in  squads 
or  companies  of  sufficient  strength  to  do  full  execution  if 
the  mob  should  attempt  to  take  the  press  when  landed 
from  the  boat. 

All  was  quiet  in  the  city,  and  we  considered  the  press 
safe  from  harm,  as  it  lay  on  storage  with  the  most  re- 
sponsible and  most  respected  firm  in  the  city.  As  night 
approached,  we  gathered  in  the  building  to  talk  over  the 


APPENDIX. 


67 


situation,  and  congratulated  each  other  on  peace.  About 
nine  o’clock  the  company  of  men  began  to  disperse  to 
their  homes,  when  Mr.  Gilman  asked  if  some  few  of  the 
number  would  not  volunteer  to  remain  through  the  night 
with  him,  for  he  intended  staying,  as  a precaution  in  case 
the  warehouse  was  attacked.  Nineteen  men  answered  the 
call,  and  the  devoted  little  band  prepared  themselves  for 
whatever  might  occur.  An  hour  elapsed  before  any  signs 
of  disturbance  were  noticed,  but  then  it  was  evident  that  a 
mob  was  gathering.  Messrs.  Keating  and  West  asked  per- 
mission to  enter  into  the  warehouse  to  confer  with  Mr.  Gil- 
man, and  being  admitted,  informed  us  that  unless  the 
press  was  given  up  the  building  would  be  burned  over 
our  heads.  We  had,  early  in  the  evening,  selected  for  our 
captain,  Enoch  Long,  who  had  seen  some  service,  think- 
ing occasion  might  require  concerted  action  on  our  part. 
His  method  of  defense  was  much  milder  than  some  of  us 
advocated,  for  we  considered  it  best  to  fire  on  the  mob  and 
make  short  work  of  it ; but  he  commanded  that  no  one  should 
shoot  without  his  order,  an  order  which,  from  mistaken 
motives  of  mercy,  he  hesitated  to  give  until  it  was  too 
late  to  intimidate  the  besiegers. 

44  The  crowd  gathered  and  attempted  to  force  an  en- 
trance, but  were  temporarily  checked  in  consequence  of 
the  order  of  our  captain  to  one  of  his  men  to  fire  upon 
them  in  return  for  their  shot,  which  had  entered  the 
building.  Our  shot  proved  fatal,  killing  one  of  the  mob, 
whose  name  was  Bishop.  The  lull  was  short;  the  mob 
returned,  reinforced  by  ruffians  who  had  been  drinking,, 
and  with  savage  yells  they  shouted  that  they  would  'fire 
the  building  and  shoot  every  d — d Abolitionist  as  he  tried 
to  make  his  escape  !’  No  orders  were  given  us  for  con- 
centrated fire  at  any  time ; it  was  all  hap-hazard,  and 
every  man  did  as  he  thought  best.  At  this  juncture,  the 
mayor  appeared,  and  we  asked  him  to  lead  us  out  to 
face  the  mob,  and,  if  they  would  not  disperse  upon  his 
command,  that  he  should  order  us  to  fire  upon  them. 
His  answer  was,  that  he  had  too  much  regard  for  our 
lives  to  do  that,  but  at  the  same  time  he  most  distinctly 
justified  us  in  our  defense.  He  attempted,  afterward,  to 
disperse  them  himself,  but  his  power  was  gone — they 
merely  laughed  at  his  authority,  as  his  weak  and  nerve- 
less treatment  of  them  on  former  occasions  had  destroyed 
all  his  influence  as  a magistrate. 

"Attempts  were  now  made  to  fire  the  building,  and 
against  one  side,  in  which  there  were  no  openings,  a 


68 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


ladder  was  placed  to  reach  the  roof,  on  which  a man 
ascended  with  a burning  torch.  Captain  Long  called  for 
volunteers  to  make  a sortie,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
accomplishment  of  their  purpose,  and  Amos  B.  Boff, 
Boyal  Weller,  and  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  promptly  stepped 
forth  to  execute  his  order.  As  they  emerged  from  the 
building,  shots  were  fired  from  behind  a shelter,  and  five 
balls  were  lodged  in  the  body  of  Mr,  Lovejoy,  others 
wounding  Mr.  Boff  and  Mr.  Weller.  Mr.  Lovejoy  had 
strength  enough  to  run  back  and  up  the  stairs,  crying 
out  as  he  went,  'I  am  shot!  I am  shot!  I am  dead!’ 
When  he  reached  the  counting-room,  he  fell  back  into  the 
arms  of  a bystander,  and  was  laid  upon  the  floor,  where 
he  instantly  passed  away  without  a struggle,  and  without 
speaking  again. 

“ Soon  Messrs.  Keating  and  West  again  approached  the 
building,  and  informed  Mr.  Gilman  that  the  roof  was  on 
fire,  but  that  ‘the  boys’  would  put  it  out  if  the  press 
should  be  given  up — that  was  what  they  wanted — and 
nothing  should  be  destroyed  or  any  one  harmed  if  the 
surrender  was  made.  Mr.  Gilman,  consulting  with  us  all, 
said  that  there  was  property  of  great  value  on  storage, 
and  the  ^interest  of  firms  all  over  the  State  were  repre- 
sented, that  he  felt  great  responsibility,  as  Mr.  Godfrey, 
his  partner,  was  absent.  To  save  these  interests,  he 
thought  the  building  had  better  be  abandoned  and  the 
press  given  up.  Others  coinciding  in  the  opinion,  it  was 
decided  to  surrender  the  press,  on  condition  that  the  mob 
would  not  enter  the  warehouse  until  we  had  left,  and  fur- 
ther, that  our  departure  should  be  without  molestation. 
These  terms  being  accepted,  we  secreted  our  arms,  and 
left  the  building  together,  but  we  were  hardly  out  before 
the  rioters  broke  their  truce  and  more  than  a hundred 
bullets  passed  harmlessly  over  our  heads.  The  fire  in  the 
warehouse  was  extinguished,  and  the  press  was  taken 
out  and  destroyed. 

“ The  next  morning  we  returned  to  where  the  dead  body 
of  Lovejoy  lay,  and  removed  it  to  his  late  home. 

“ His  wife  was  absent  at  the  house  of  a friend,  so  pros- 
trated by  the  shock  of  these  terrible  events  that  her  life 
was  despaired  of  for  many  days.  Owen  Lovejoy  received 
the  corpse  of  his  brother  at  the  house,  and  preparations 
for  the  funeral,  to  take  place  the  following  day,  were  then 
made. 

“ It  was  a rainy,  depressing  day,  and  I well  remember 
now  how  Abram  Breath,  still  a resident  of  Alton,  and 


APPENDIX. 


69 


myself  walked  together,  through  mud  and  water,  to  the 
grave.  The  burial  service  was  simple,  consisting  merely 
of  prayers,  by  Mr.  Lovejoy’s  constant  friend,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Lippincott ; no  remarks  being  made,  lest  the  mob 
should  disturb  the  last  sacred  rites  of  our  beloved  friend. 
There  had  been  no  inquest  over  his  body,  no  flowers  were 
strewn  over  his  coffin.  Mob-law  not  only  reigned,  but  was 
insultingly  triumphant. 

“It  was  thought  that  the  silence  of  death,  under  such 
circumstances,  well  became  the  burial  of  Liberty.” 

At  the  time  this  murder  was  perpetrated,  Henry  Clay 
was  a United  States  Senator  from  Kentucky,  and  he 
boldly  advocated  gradual  emancipation,  in  Congress,  with 
the  same  freedom  that  he  would  have  supported  an  appro- 
priation bill,  and  went  forth  in  the  discharge  of  his  daily 
duties  without  the  fear  of  molestation  by  anybody.  Yet1 
in  Illinois  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  could  not  write  or  print  his 
views  upon  the  same  subject  without  having  his  property 
destroyed,  being  himself  personally  abused  and  at  last 
murdered  by  an  infuriated  mob. 

But  the  crowning  act  of  this  heartless  outrage  was  the 
utter  neglect  of  the  courts  to  take  cognizance  of  the  mur- 
der of  Lovejoy. 

John  Carroll  Power,  custodian  of  the  National  Lincoln 
Monument,  who  visited  the  burial  place  of  Lovejoy  in 
1870,  writes  that  his  grave  was  left  unmarked  by  a stone 
until  1864,  when  Thomas  Dimmock,  a citizen  of  Alton, 
visited  Boston,  and  procured  a neat  granite  pedestal  25x 
30  inches  and  15  inches  high,  with  a white  marble  slab 
17x26  inches,  which  bears  this  simple  inscription: 

HIC  JACIT 

lovejoy; 

Jam  parce  Sepulto • 


70 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

FOURTEENTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY— 1844-40. 


The  Fourteenth  General  Assembly  convened  December 
2,  1844,  and  adjourned  March  3,  1845. 

Lieut. -Gov.  Moore  presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Mer- 
ritt L.  Coveil  was  elected  Secretary.  William  A.  Richard- 
son was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Newton  Cloud 
Clerk. 

James  A.  McDougall,  of  Morgan  county,  became  Attor- 
ney-General, January  12,  1848;  Thompson  Campbell,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  March  4,  1843;  William  L.  D.  Ewing, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  March  26,  1843. 

Mr.  McDougall  was  born  in  New  York;  he  removed  to 
Pike  county,  Illinois,  in  1837 ; in  1849,  he  originated  and 
accompanied  an  exploring  expedition  to  Rio  del  Norte, 
the  Gila 'and  Colorado;  he  afterward  emigrated  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  followed  his  profession  at  San  Francisco;  in 
1850,  he  was  elected  Attorney-General  of  California ; was 
a Representative  in  Congress  from  that  State  from  1853 
to  1855,  and  in  1861  he  was  elected  United  States  Sena- 
tor ; he  was  a delegate  to  the  Chicago  Convention  in  1864. 
He  died  at  Albany,  New  York,  September  3,  1867. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Ford  was  a very  arduous 
and  embarrassing  one.  Besides  the  financial  embarrass- 
ments of  the  State,  he  had  the  Mormon  war  upon  his 
hands ; but  he  successfully  subdued  the  Mormons,  and  by 
his  wise  counsel  greatly  assisted  the  General  Assembly  in 
passing  laws  which  gave  the  State  and  the  people  partial 
relief  from  their  indebtedness. 


APPENDIX. 


71 


Gov.  Ford  was  born  in  Pennsylvania.  In  1804,  while  a 
child,  his  parents  emigrated  to  Illinois.  When  he  attained 
manhood’s  estate,  and  prior  to  his  election  as  Governor, 
he  was  a Justice  of  the  Supreme  bench,  which  position  he 
resigned  to  become  Governor.  He  wrote  a history  of  Illi- 
nois from  1818  to  1847,  which  # was  printed  by  his  friend, 
Gen.  James  Shields,  after  Gov.  Ford’s  death,  which 
occurred  at  Peoria,  November  2,  1850. 

Mexican  War. 

In  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  which 
Congress  declared  on  the  11th  of  May,  1846,  and  which 
prevailed  two  years,  Illinois  bore  an  honorable  and  con- 
spicuous part.  Six  regiments  of  volunteer  soldiers  was  her 
contribution  in  that  sanguinary  struggle.  In  a volume  re- 
cently prepared  by  Adj.-Gen.  Isaac  H.  Elliott,  by  author- 
ity of  the  General  Assembly,  we  find  the  familiar  names 
of  Colonel  John  J.  Hardin,  who  fell  while  gallantly  lead- 
ing the  first  regiment  in  a charge  at  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista,  February  28,  1847;  Major  William  A.  Richardson, 
Lieutenant. Colonel  B.  M.  Prentiss,  First  Lieutenant 
Isham  N.  Haynie,  Second  Lieutenant  John  A.  Logan, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  James  L.  D.  Morrison,  Colonel  Ste- 
phen G.  Hicks,  Major  S.  D.  Marshall,  Captain  M.  K. 
Lawler,  Second  Lieutenant  Green  B.  Field,  Colonel  Edward 
D.  Baker,  Second  Lieutenant  William  B.  Fondey,  Ser- 
geant Dudley  Wickersham,  First  Lieutenant  Richard  J. 
Oglesby,  Captain  L.  W.  Ross,  Sergeant  Robert  M.  Pee- 
ples, Second  Lieutenant  John  G.  Ridgway,  Colonel  Wm. 
H.  Bissell,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wm.  B.  Warren.  The  re- 
ports of  that  campaign,  printed  in  the  volume  referred  to, 
show  that,  in  their  official  reports,  Generals  Taylor,  Wool, 
Scott,  Twiggs  and  Patterson  each  warmly  commended  the  gal- 
lantry of  Illinois  soldiers ; and  Gen.  Taylor  complimented 
personally  the  services  of  Colonel  Bissell,  Lieutenant-Colonel 


72  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Morrison,  Lient.-Col.  Wm. B.  Warren,  Col.  Wm.  Weather- 
ford, Maj.  X.  F.  Frail,  Adjt.  A.  G.  Whiteside,  and  Maj. 
Noah  Fry,  for  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Yista. 

Prentiss,  Haynie,  Logan,  Hicks,  Lawler,  Baker, 
Oglesby  and  Wickersham  served  in  the  war  for  the  Union. 
Baker  represented  Illinois  in  lower  house  of  Congress, 
and  wTas  afterward  U.  S.  Senator  from  Oregon;  he  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Leesburg,  Va.,  Oct.  21,  1861. 

State  Government — 1846-49. 

The  eighth  State  Government  was  inaugurated  De- 
cember 9,  1846,  with  Augustus  C.  French,  of  Crawford, 
as  Governor;  Joseph  B.  Wells,  of  Bock  Island,  Lieu- 
tenant Governor;  Horace  S.  Cooley,  of  Adams,  Secretary 
of  State;  Thomas  H.  Campbell,  of  Bandolph,  Auditor  of 
Public  Accounts;  Milton  Carpenter,  of  Hamilton,  Treas- 
urer; David  B.  Campbell,  of  Sangamon,  Attorney-General. 

The  Fifteenth  General  Assembly  convened  December  7, 
1846,  and  adjourned  March  1,  1847. 

Lieutenant-Governor  Wells  presided  over  the  Senate, 
and  Henry  W.  Moore  was  elected  Secretary.  Newton 
Cloud  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  John  Mc- 
Donald Clerk. 

Constitutional  Convention  of  1847. 

The  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  1848 
convened  at  Springfield,  June  7,  1847.  Zadok  Casey  was 
elected  President  pro  tempore ; Newton  Cloud  President, 
and  Henry  W.  Moore  Secretary.  There  wrere  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  delegates,  whose  names  are  given  below : 

William  Laughlin,  Wm.  B.  Powers,  Jacob  M.  Nichols, 
Archibald  Williams,  Martin  Atherton,  Michael  G.  Dale, 
Daniel  H.  Whitney,  James  W.  Singleton,  James  Brock- 
man, Alexander  McHatton,  Simon  Kinney,  Wm.  Bosby- 
shell,  Garner  Moffett,  Henry  E.  Dummer,  Thompson  B. 
Webber,  D.  D.  Shumway,  Wm.  Tutt,  Justin  Harlan,  Uri 
Manly,  Peter  Green,  Benjamin  Bond,  Thomas  A.  Marshall, 


APPENDIX. 


73 


Thomas  B.  Trower,  Patrick  Ballingall,  Francis  C.  Sher- 
man, Reuben  B.  Heacock,  E.  F.  Colby,  David  L.  Gregg, 
Nelson  Hawley,  Wm.  H.  Blakely,  George  H.  Hill,  George 
B.  Lemen,  Jeduthun  Hatch,  Samuel  Anderson,  Wm.  Shields, 
George  W.  Rives,  Alvin  R.  Kenner,  John  W.  F.  Edmonson, 
Joseph  T.  Eccles,  George  W.  Akin,  David  Markley,  Heze- 
kiah  M.  Wead,  Isaac  Linley,  George  Kreider,  Albert  G. 
Caldwell,  Jacob  Smith,  Franklin  Witt,  L.  E.  Worcester, 
D.  M.  Woodson,  George  W.  Armstrong,  James  M.  Lasater, 
Thomas  C.  Sharpe,  William  S.  Moore,  Charles  Choate, 
Robert  Miller,  Thomas  Geddes,  Andrew  McCallen,  Gilbert 
Turnbull,  Joshua  Harper,  Lewis  J.  Simpson,  Jesse  0. 
Norton,  Alexander  M.  Jenkins,  Richard  G.  Morris,  Frank- 
lin S.  Casey,  Zadok  Casey,  Walter  B.  Scates,  A,  R. 
Knapp,  Thompson  Campbell,  W.  B.  Green,  0.  C.  Pratt, 
John  Oliver,  Alfred  Churchill,  Augustus  Adams,  Thomas 
Judd,  John  West  Mason,  Curtis  K.  Harvey,  James  Knox, 
Horace  Butler,  Hurlbut  Swan,  Whn.  Stadden,  Abraham 
Hoes,  John  Mieure,  John  Dement,  Samuel  Lander,  James 
Tuttle,  David  Davis,  F.  S.  D.  Marshall,  James  Graham, 
John  M.  Palmer,  James  M.  Campbell,  John  Huston,  John 
Sibley,  Peter  W.  Deitz,  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  Cyrus  Ed- 
wards, E.  M.  West,  Benaiah  Robinson,  George  T.  Brown, 
Henry  D.  Palmer,  George  W.  Pace,  Edward  0.  Smith, 
Thomas  G.  C.  Davis,  Benjamin  F.  Northcott,  Frederick 
Frick,  Hiram  Roundtree,  James  M.  Davis,  Anthony 
Thornton,  Newton  Cloud,  James  Dunlap,  Samuel  D. 
Lockwood,  William  Thomas,  James  A.  James,  John  D. 
Whiteside,  Daniel  J.  Pinckney,  H.  B.  Jones,  John  Crain, 
Wm.  W.  Thompson,  Lincoln  B.  Knowlton,  Onslow  Peters, 
W7m.  R.  Archer,  Harvey  Dunn,  William  A.  Grimshaw, 
Montgomery  Blair,  William  Sim,  Oaks  Turner,  Ezekiel 
W.  Robbins,  Richard  B.  Servant,  Alfred  Kitchell,  John 
W.  Spencer,  John  Dawrson,  James  H.  Matheny,  Ninian 
W.  Edwards,  Stephen  T.  Logan,  N.  M.  Knapp,  Daniel 
Dunsmore,  William  A.  Minshall,  Edward  Evey,  Wm.  W. 
Roman,  Wm.  C.  Kinney,  John  McCulley,  George  Bunsen, 
Seth  B.  Farwell,  Thomas  B.  Carter,  William  H.  Holmes, 
Henry  R.  Green,  Samuel  Hunsaker,  John  Canady,  John 
WT.  Yance,  Charles  H.  Constable,  Abner  C.  Harding, 
Zenos  H.  Vernor,  James  M.  Hogue,  Aaron  C.  Jackson, 
S.  Snowden  Hayes,  Daniel  Hay,  Samuel  J.  Cross,  Selden 
M.  Church,  Robert  J.  Cross,  John  T.  Loudon,  Willis  Allen, 
Hugh  Henderson,  William  McClure. 


74 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Politically,  this  convention  was  rather  evenly  balanced. 
On  the  Democratic  side  there  were  such  representatives  as 
Zadok  Casey,  John  Dement,  John  M.  Palmer,  Anthony 
Thornton,  Walter  B.  Scates,  Willis  Allen,  L.  B.  Knowl- 
ton,  Thompson  Campbell;  and  among  the  Whigs,  Archi- 
bald Williams,  James  W.  Singleton,  Henry  E.  Dummer, 
Jesse  0.  Norton,  Stephen  A.  Hurlbut,  David  Davis,  Cyrus 
Edwards,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood,  Stephen  T.  Logan  and 
Abner  C.  Harding. 

The  convention  was  in  session  eighty-four  days.  The 
constitution  was  voted  upon  and  adopted  by  the  people, 
March  6,  and  went  into  effect  April  1,  1848.  We  note 
some  of  its  peculiar  features : It  provided  that  the  salary  of 
the  Governor  should  be  $1,500;  Secretary  of  State,  $800 
and  fees  ; Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  $800  and  “ no  more ;” 
State  Treasurer,  $800  and  “no  more;”  Judges  of  Supreme 
Court,  $1,200  and  “ no  more ;”  Circuit  Judges,  $1,000  and 
“ no  more ;”  military  duty  was  confined  to  “ all  free  male 
able-bodied  persons,  between  the  ages  of  18  and  45,  ne- 
groes, mulattoes  and  Indians  excepted;”  a capitation  tax 
was  to  be  collected  from  “ all  able-bodied  free  white  male 
inhabitants ;”  the  pay  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly 
was  fixed  at  $2.00  per  day  for  forty-two  days,  and  $1.00 
per  day  for  each  day  thereafter,  and  10  cents  mileage  each 
way.  Article  fourteen  provided  that  “the  General  Assembly, 
at  its  first  session  under  the  amended  constitution,  should 
pass  such  laws  as  would  effectually  prohibit  free  persons 
of  color  from  immigrating  to  and  settling  in  this  State; 
and  to  effectually  prevent  the  owners  of  slaves  from  bring- 
ing them  into  this  State  for  the  purpose  of  setting  them 
free.”  Article  fifteen  provided  that  there  should  be  annu- 
ally assessed  and  collected  a tax  of  two  mills  upon  each 
dollar's  worth  of  taxable  property,  in  addition  to  all  other 
taxes,  to  be  kept  separate  and  to  be  apportioned  to  the 
payment  of  the  State  indebtedness  other  than  the  canal 


APPENDIX. 


75 


and  school  indebtedness.  This  article  was  also  submitted 
to  a separate  vote  of  the  people;  the  vote  for  it  was  41,- 
449;  against,  31,869;  majority  for,  9,580.  This  article 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  State 
debt,  incurred  by  the  internal  improvement  system  of 
1837,  and  it  is  of  itself  enough  to  immortalize  the  framers 
of  that  constitution,  because  it  gave  hope  and  courage  to 
the  people  who  wanted  to  pay  the  obligations  of  the  State 
dollar  for  dollar,  and  it  enabled  them  to  do  it. 

State  Government — 1849-53. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1848,  a new  election  for  State 
officers  had  occurred  in  that  year,  and  Gov.  French  was 
re-elected ; William  McMurtry,  of  Knox,  was  elected  Lieut. - 
Governor;  Horace  S.  Cooley,  of  Adams,  Secretary  of  State; 
Thomas  H.  Campbell,  of  Randolph,  Auditor  of  Public  Ac- 
counts ; John  Moore,  of  McLean,  Treasurer.  No  provision 
having  been  made  in  the  constitution  for  an  Attorney- 
General,  that  office  became  extinct. 

The  first  session  of  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly 
convened  January  1,  1849,  the  new  constitution  having 
changed  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
from  December  to  January.  A second  session  convened 
October  22,  and  adjourned  November  7,  1849. 

Lieut. -Gov.  McMurtry  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
William  Smith  was  elected  Secretary.  Zadok  Casey  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Nathaniel  Niles  Clerk. 

The  duties  of  this  General  Assembly  were  more  than 
routine  legislation.  A new  era  marked  the  progress  of  the 
State.  The  framers  of  the  new  constitution  had  adopted 
a feasible  plan  for  providing  means  for  relieving  the  State 
of  its  financial  embarrassment,  and  wise  legislation  was 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  con- 
stitution, and  the  people  happily  selected  many  able  rep- 
resentatives, among  whom  may  be  mentioned,  of  the 


7G 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Senate,  John  T.  Stuart  of  Sangamon,  Joseph  Gillespie  of 
Madison,  J.  L.  D.  Morrison  of  St.  Clair,  William  Reddick 
of  LaSalle,  Joel  A.  Matteson  of  Will,  and  Norman  B.  Judd 
of  Cook.  Of  the  House,  were  Wesley  Sloan  of  Pope,  Za- 
dok  Casey  of  Jefferson,  U.  F.  Linder  of  Clark,  Thomas 
Carlin  of  Greene,  Richard  Yates  of  Morgan,  Ninian  W. 
Edwards  of  Sangamon,  Onias  C.  Skinner  of  Adams,  and 
William  Kellogg  of  Fulton. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

IMPROVEMENT  SYSTEM, 


Internal  Improvement  System  of  1837— Appointment  of  Fund  Commis- 
sioners—Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal— Board  of  Public  Works— System 
of  Railroads— Mail  Routes— Improvement  of  the  Rivers— $10,607,000  Ap- 
propriated by  the  General  Assembly  for  Public  Improvements— Who 
Voted  for  the  Bill— Bankruptcy. 


The  internal. improvement  system  of  1837,  which  bank- 
rupted the  State  and  wrecked  many  private  fortunes,  was 
a gigantic  enterprise,  and  while  it  was  a signal  failure, 
yet  it  taught  the  people  a valuable  lesson.  In  this  sys- 
tem was  included,  incidentally,  the  project  of  construct- 
ing the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  which  had  been 
mooted  in  the  message  of  Gov.  Bond  as  early  as  1818, 
and  it  continued  to  be  the  subject  of  discussion  and  legis- 
lation by  every  Governor  and  General  Assembly,  until 
the  collapse  of  the  whole  system.  The  canal  was  regarded 
as  the  means  above  all  others  for  the  development  of  the 
State.  The  General  Assembly  of  1826,  in  a memorial  ad- 
dressed to  Congress,  asking  for  a donation  of  lands  in  aid 
of  the  construction  of  the  canal,  gave  .vent  to  their  views 


APPENDIX. 


77 


upon  the  importance  of  the  work  in  these  words : “ The 

construction  of  a canal  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan  with  the  Illinois  river,  will  form  an  important 
addition  to  the  great  connecting  links  in  the  chain  of  in- 
ternal navigation,  which  will  effectually  secure  the  indis- 
soluble union  of  the  confederate  members  of  this  great 
and  powerful  Eepublic.  By  the  completion  of  this  great 
and  valuable  work,  the  connection  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  the  East  and  the  West,  would  be  strengthened 
by  the  ties  of  commercial  intercourse  and  social  brother- 
hood, and  the  Union  of  States  might  bid  defiance  to  in- 
ternal commotion  and  sectional  jealousy,  and  foreign  inva- 
sion.”  Acting  on  this  memorial,  Congress  passed  an  act 
March  2,  1827,  granting  some  300,000  acres  of  land  to  the 
State,  in  aid  of  the  canal.  Stimulated  by  what  Congress 
had  done,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act,  January  22,  1829, 
authorizing  the  construction  of  the  canal,  but  the  termini 
was  not  fixed  until  March  1,  1833.  The  total  expenditures 
for  the  construction  of  the  canal,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Canal  Commissioners  and  Trustees,  up  to  1848,  when 
it  was  opened  for  business,  was  $6,557,681.50.  (See  Beport 
of  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1870.)  The  Records  of  the  Auditor  of  Public 
Accounts  further  show  that  the  total  expenditures  on  this 
92  miles  of  waterway  was  over  $10,000,000.  This  enormous 
expenditure  would  have  built,  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  666 
miles  of  railway. 

The  law  which  authorized  the  internal  improvement 
system  was  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  in  February, 
1837.  It  provided  for  the  appointment  of  Fund  Commis- 
sioners, whose  duties  were  to  negotiate  loans  of  money, 
on  the  credit  of  the  State,  and  to  promote  and  maintain 
a general  system  of  internal  improvements.  The  same 
act  provided  for  the  biennial  election,  by  the  Legislature, 
of  a Board  of  Public  Works,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take 


78 


t POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


charge  of  and  prosecute  the  public  improvements ; and  it 
provided  for  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Wabash,  Illinois,  Eock,  Kaskaskia  and  Little  Wabash 
rivers ; the  construction  of  a mail  route  from  Vincennes 
to  East  St.  Louis,  and  the  following  railroads : Cairo  to 
Galena,  Alton  to  Mt.  Carmel,  Alton  to  Shawneetown, 
Quincy  to  Danville  and  the  State  line,  a branch  from  the 
Cairo  and  Galena  via  Hillsboro  and  Shelbyville  east  to 
Terre  Haute;  Peoria  to  Warsaw,  Lower  Alton  via  Hills- 
boro, to  intersect  the  Cairo  and  Galena,  Belleville  to 
intersect  the  Alton  and  Mt.  Carmel,  Bloomington  to  Pekin 
and  Peoria.  There  was  appropriated  by  this  act  $400,000 
for  the  improvement  of  the  rivers,  $250,000  for  the  mail 
routes,  $9,460,000  for  railroads,  and  $200,000  to  counties 
in  which  no  railroads  were  to  be  built.  Provision  was 
made  for  creating  an  internal  improvement  fund,  and  cer- 
tificates of  stock  were  to  be  issued  on  the  faith  of  the 
State.  The  journal  of  the  House  of  that  session  shows 
that  John  Crain,  John  Dougherty,  John  Dawson,  John 
Dement,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Jesse  K.  Dubois,  Ninian  W. 
Edwards,  William  F.  Elkin,  Augustus  C.  French,  William 
W.  Happy,  John  J.  Hardin,  John  Hogan,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, U.  F.  Linder,  John  A.  McClernand,  John  Moore, 
Joseph  Naper,  James  Shields,  Eobert  Smith,  Dan  Stone 
and  James  Semple  voted  for  the  bill,  and  that  Milton 
Carpenter,  John  Harris,  William  McMurtry,  William  A. 
Minshall  and  William  A.  Eichardson  voted  against  it.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  the  internal  improvement  system 
was  not  the  work  of  bad  men,  nor  was  it  the  creature  of 
a combination  for  speculative  purposes,  for  it  was  cham- 
pioned by  some  of  the  purest  and  ablest  men  of  the 
State. 

In  March,  1839,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature 
providing  for  the  construction  of  a railroad  from  Upper 
Alton  via  Hillsboro  to  Carlinville,  and  one  from  Eushville 


APPENDIX. 


79 


to  Era.  At  the  same  session  $150,000  was  appropriated 
to  the  improvement  of, the  Little  Wabash;  $20,000  to  im- 
prove the  Big  Muddy;  $7,000  to  improve  the  Embarrass, 
and  $20,000  for  mail  routes. 

In  1840,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  prohibiting  the 
Board  of  Public  Works  from  letting  any  more  contracts, 
and  providing  for  the  settlement  of  the  debts  incurred  by 
the  system,  and  the  offices  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works 
and  the  Board  of  Fund  Commissioners  were  abolished. 

In  1841,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  authorizing  the 
Auditor  and  Treasurer  of  State  to  audit  and  settle  the 
claims  of  contractors  on  public  works.  At  the  same  ses- 
sion $100,000  was  appropriated  for  the  completion  of  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad.  Here  we  have  the  beginning 
and  ending  of  the  legislation  relating  to  the  internal  im- 
provement system,  in  which  was  included  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal. 

To  illustrate  the  utter  blindness  of  the  system,  we  note 
the  fact  that  Ford  says,  there  were  no  previous  surveys 
of  the  proposed  roads,  nor  estimates  of  their  cost  of  con- 
struction, and  that  the  work  was  commenced  on  all  of 
them  at  the  same  time,  and  at  each  end.  Large  brick 
depots  were  built  at  different  points  regardless  as  to 
whether  the  roads  were  built  or  not.  One  of  these  was 
burned  at  Equality  some  years  ago,  and  another  is  still 
standing  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  river  at  Shawneetown, 
as  a monument  to  the  folly  of  that  age. 

When  the  affairs  of  the  internal  improvement  system 
were  settled,  it  was  shown  that  the  State  was  involved  in 
a debt  of  $12,000,000,  with  nothing  to  show  for  it.  Here, 
indeed,  was  a crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  young  State. 
The  population  was  less  than  half  a million.  There  was 
neither  business  nor  commerce;  and  a loud  cry  went 
forth  in  favor  of  repudiation,  but  this  was  soon  checked, 
44 


80  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

and  by  judicious  legislation  the  people  obtained  temporary 
relief  as  to  their  personal  financial  burdens,  and  measures 
were  devised  for  paying  the  public  debt.  It  required  years 
of  toil  and  hardship,  but  the  debt  was  finally  paid  in  full, 
principal  and  interest,  and  the  honor  and  credit  of  the 
State  maintained. 

It  is  a remarkable  fact  that  while  all  the  roads  pro- 
jected in  1837  failed  of  construction,  private  companies 
have  since  built  them,  in  whole  or  in  part. 

Seventeenth  General  Assembly — 1850-52. 

The  first  session  of  the  Seventeenth  General  Assembly 
convened  January  6,  1851,  and  adjourned  February  17. 
A second  session  convened  June  7,  1852,  and  adjourned 
June  23. 

Lieut. -Gov.  McMurtry  presided  over  the  Senate,  and 
William  Smith  served  as  Secretary.  Sidney  Breese  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Isaac  B.  Diller  Clerk. 

The  work  of  enacting  laws  to  conform  to  the  new  consti- 
tution, was  one  of  the  grave  duties  of  this  Assembly.  Of  the 
new  members  there  were  such  names  as  John  M.  Palmer, 
of  Macoupin ; Wm.  B.  Plato,  of  Kane,  in  the  Senate ; and 
in  the  House,  Isham  N.  Haynie,  of  Marion;  James  C. 
Allen,  of  Crawford;  Sidney  Breese,  of  Clinton;  William 
H.  Snyder,  of  St.  Clair;  S.  A.  Buckmaster,  of  Madison; 
Wm.  Thomas,  of  Morgan ; Anthony  Thornton,  of  Shelby ; 
James  W.  Singleton,  of  Brown;  Jesse  0.  Norton,  of  Will, 
and  0.  M.  Hatch,  of  Pike. 

Gov.  French  retired  from  office  in  January,  1853,  leav- 
ing behind  him  an  honorable  record.  He  had  been  the  Ex- 
ecutive when  the  darkest  clouds  of  the  financial  storm 
hovered  over  the  State,  but  had  ever  counseled  an  honest 
payment  of  the  State’s  obligations,  and  he  lived  to  see 
the  debt  almost  wholly  canceled. 

Gov.  French  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  in  August, 
1808;  he  attended  Harvard  University;  removed  to  Illinois 


APPENDIX. 


81 


in  his  youth,  and  as  early  as  1835  became  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  politics  of  the  State.  He  was  a lawyer  by 
profession,  and  was  for  several  years  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  McKendree  College,  and  Professor 
of  Law  in  that  institution.  His  last  appearance  in  public 
life  was  as  a member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1862.  He  died  at  Lebanon,  September  4,  1864. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

OUR  FIRST  RAILROADS, 


Gov.  Duncan’s  Opposition  to  Railroads— Senator  Gatewood’s  Opposition- 
Report  of  Committee  Favoring  Canals  in  Preference  to  Railroads— Num- 
ber of  Miles  of  Railway— Number  of  Miles  of  Canal— Amount  of  Taxes 
Paid  by  Illinois  Central  Railway— Amount  Paid  by  Other  Railways  in 
1883— Gov.  Duncan’s  Problem  Solved. 


It  will  be  difficult  for  the  reader  to  realize,  amidst  the 
many  grand  railways  which  cross  and  re-cross  the  broad 
domain  of  Illinois,  that  there  should  have  ever  been  any- 
body to  oppose  their  construction,  or  doubt  their  success, 
but  a study  of  the  early  legislation  of  the  State  shows  that 
there  was  serious  opposition,  even  among  the  brightest 
minds  of  the  State.  Gov.  Duncan,  in  his  message  to  the 
General  Assembly,  in  1834,  gave  utterance  to  the  thought 
that  it  was  yet  to  be  determined  whether  railroads  would 
be  more  benefit  to  the  State  than  the  Illinois  and  Michi- 
gan canal.  Said  he : 

“ No  one  who  has  visited  the  different  canals  and  railroads 
in  the  United  States,  and  compared  the  country  through 
which  they  pass  with  the  fertile  lands  which  lie  between 
the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  to  say  nothing  of  the  un- 
bounded country  that  is  washed  by  the  twenty-five  thou- 
sand miles  of  river  and  lake  navigation,  which  this  canal 
will  unite  by  the  shortest  and  most  certain  route  that  can 
possibly  be  made,  can  doubt  that  it  will  yield  a larger 


82  POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 

profit  upon  its  cost,  in  a very  few  years,  than  any  other 
work  of  the  kind  that  has  ever  been,  or  can  be,  con- 
structed in  this  country. 

“In  commencing  this  great  work  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  its  utility  and  success,  as  well  as  it  expense, 
will  greatly  depend  upon  the  kind  of  improvement  that  the 
Legislature  shall  adopt,  and  upon  the  plan  of  its  con- 
struction. Of  the  different  plans  proposed,  I find  that  the 
Board  of  Canal  Commissioners  and  my  worthy  prede- 
cessors, have  recommended  a railroad,  in  which  I regret 
that  I am  compelled  to  differ  with  them  in  opinion. 

“ In  my  judgment,  experience  has  shown  canals  to  be 
much  more  useful,  and  generally  cheaper  of  construction, 
than  railroads.  When  well  made  they  require  less  expen- 
sive repairs,  and  are  continually  improving,  and  will  last 
forever,  while  railroads  are  kept  in  repair  at  a very  heavy 
expense,  and  will  last  but  about  fifteen  years.  In  the  pres- 
ent case  especially,  a canal  should  be  preferred,  because 
it  connects,  by  a short  and  direct  route,  two  great  naviga- 
ble waters,  that  wash  the  shores  of  most  of  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces  of 
North  America,  and  thus  opening  a commerce  between 
the  remotest  parts  of  the  continent.  By  using  the  lake 
as  a feeder  to  this  canal,  a large  body  of  water  will  be 
turned  into  the  Illinois  river,  which  will  improve  its  navi- 
gation, and  by  increasing  the  current,  will,  probably,  ren- 
der its  shores  more  healthy. 

“ An  additional  argument  in  favor  of  a canal,  which 
should  justly  have  great  weight  with  you,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact,  that  it  puts  it  in  the  power  of  every  farmer 
to  carry  his  own  produce  to  market,  which  renders  him 
independent  of  that  monopoly  which  must  always  control 
fhe  transportation  on  railroads.  There  appears  to  be  but 
little  force,  in  the  present  case,  in  the  argument  commonly 
used  in  favor  of  railroads — that  transportation  upon  them 
is  uninterrupted  in  winter — as  this  canal  will  be  open 
several  weeks  longer  in  the  fall  and  spring  than  either 
the  lake  or  river,  consequently  no  inconvenience  can  re- 
sult from  its  closing,  especially  as  at  that  season  the 
roads  will  be  sufficiently  good  to  accommodate  all  the 
traveling  which  will  be  required.”  (See  House  Journal  of 
1835.) 

Acting  on  the  views  of  Gov.  Duncan,  a committee  was 
appointed  by  the  Senate  to  determine  which  system  of 
internal  commerce  should  be  adopted.  The  committee 


APPENDIX. 


83 


gave  the  subject  a wide  consideration,  and  in  the  course 
of  an  elaborate  report,  expressed  the  deliberate  opinion 
that  canals  were  preferable  to  railroads,  in  these  terms : 

“From  all  the  lights  of  which  the  committee  have  been 
able  to  avail  themselves,  it  would  seem  that  the  public 
judgment,  in  this  State  and  elsewhere,  has  settled  down 
in  favor  of  canals  in  preference  to  railroads,  wherever  the 
country  is  peculiarly  suited  to  their  construction;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  nature  has  declared  that  this 
is  the  character  of  the  region  of  country  lying  between 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois  and  Lake  Michigan. 
That  railroads  are  better  adapted  to  the  speedy  trans- 
portation of  passengers  than  canals,  seems  to  be  admitted ; 
and  whenever  that  is  the  main  object  intended  to  be 
effected  by  their  construction,  they  are,  doubtless,  entitled 
to  a preference  over  canals.  But  such  can  not  be  the  case 
in  reference  to  this  work. 

“ If  we  glance  at  the  institutions  and  improvements  of 
civilized  man,  in  every  portion  of  the  world,  we  are  struck 
with  the  fact  that,  in  those  countries,  and  among  those 
people,  where  Ihe  means  of  promoting  the  happiness  of 
the  social  state  are  most  profoundly  understood,  there 
canals  abound ; and  there  the  Government  has  been  most 
anxious  to  increase  the  facilities  for  internal  commerce 
and  inter-communication  between  different  parts  of  the 
same  country.  But  we  are  not  left  to  that  brilliant  ex- 
ample alone  to  cheer  us  to  the  undertaking — our  neigh- 
bors, Ohio  and  Indiana,  have  profited  by  the  wisdom  and 
experience  of  other  enlightened  States,  and  their  citizens 
are  now  enjoying  an  unparalleled  prosperity,  as  the  fruit 
of  their  sagacity  and  enterprise.  Shall  not  Illinois  do 
likewise?  . . . The  probable  cost  of  the  canal,  to  be 

supplied  with  water,  will  be  $2,956,260.56.” 

It  will  be  observed,  from  these  figures,  that  the  com- 
mittee went  into  details  in  calculating  the  cost  of  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  as  fractions  of  dollars  form  a 
part  of  the  estimated  cost.  (See  Senate  Journal  of  1835.) 
At  that  session  William  J.  Gatewood,  a State  Senator 
from  Gallatin  county,  and  a man  of  eminent  ability,  was 
one  of  many  who  earnestly  opposed  legislation  in  favor 
of  railroads,  but,  nevertheless,  the  agitation  of  the  ques- 
tion continued,  and  in  1839,  the  completion  of  the  first 


84 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


railroad  in  the  State,  known  as  the  Northern  Cross,  was 
celebrated  as  one  of  the  greatest  events  of  the  age.  Geo. 
Gregory  ran  its  first  locomotive.  The  road  extended  from 
Jacksonville  to  Meredosia,  a distance  of  twenty-four  miles ; 
it  was  built  by  the  State,  and  laid  with  flat  iron.  In 
1841,  it  was  extended  from  Jacksonville  to  Springfield,  and 
in  1845,  from  Jacksonville  to  Naples.  The  State  operated 
the  road  until  1847,  when  the  Legislature  passed  an  act, 
February  16,  authorizing  the  sale  of  the  road  between  the 
Illinois  river  and  Springfield,  fifty-two  miles  in  length,  at 
public  vendue.  One  of  the  peculiar  features  of  this  law 
was,  that  it  provided  for  a forty  years’  lien  upon  the  road, 
in  order  to  secure  the  amount  for  which  it  might  be  sold. 
The  sale  took  place  soon  after  the  approval  of  the  act, 
and  Nicholas  H.  Eidgely,  of  Springfield,  became  the  pur- 
chaser, paying  $21,100  in  State  indebtedness.  Mr.  Eidgely 
afterward  sold  Thomas  Mather,  of  Springfield,  and  James 
Dunlap,  of  Jacksonville,  each  an  interest. 

They  changed  its  name  to  the  Sangamon  and  Morgan 
Eailroad.  During  the  time  the  State  had  operated  it  but 
two  engines  had  been  obtained,  and  when  the  new  owners 
took  possession  they  found  them  so  worn  as  to  be  unfit 
for  use,  and  for  nine  months  they  were  compelled  to  run 
their  trains  with  mules.  The  trains  consisted  of  two  cars 
drawn  by  two  mules.  There  were  two  trains  daily,  one 
of  which  left  Springfield  in  the  morning  for  Naples,  and 
the  other,  Naples  for  Springfield.  Eeddick  M.  Eidgely  was 
one  of  the  conductors. 

About  the  close  of  the  year  1847,  the  company  received 
three  new  engines,  when  the  services  of  the  mules  were 
dispensed  with.  The  Legislature  passed  an  act  extending 
the  charter  of  the  road  to  the  Indiana  line,  and  in  1857, 
Mr.  Mather  visited  New  York  and  negotiated  a sale  of 
the  road  to  Eobert  Schuyler,  who  was  then  deemed  the 
great  railroad  manager  of  the  country,  for  $100,000; 


APPENDIX. 


85 


Mather  and  Eidgely  continued  stock-holders,  and  were 
elected  local  directors.  In  the  same  year  Mr.  Schuyler 
became  the  purchaser  of  the  thirty-three  miles  of  railroad 
between  Meredosia  and  Camp  Point,  which  had  been  built 
through  the  influence  of  Gen.  James  W.  Singleton;  it  was 
known  as  the  Quincy  and  Toledo  Bailroad.  In  1859,  the 
name  was  changed  to  the  Great  Western  Railway,  and 
the  work  of  extending  it  eastward  was  begun  in  earnest. 
In  1865,  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Toledo  and  Wabash 
Railway;  January  6,  1877,  the  Wabash  Railway  Company 
was  organized,  and  acquired  the  property  of  the  Toledo, 
Wabash  and  Western  Railway  at  foreclosure  sale,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1877,  and  in  1879,  the  name  was  changed  to  the 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway. 

Now,  that  insignificant  twenty-four  miles  of  flat  railroad  is 
a part  of  what  is  known  as  the  “Gould  system/’  which  has 
business  connections  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  and  is  esteemed  one  of  the  greatest  railway  com- 
binations in  the  world.  The  company  owns  in  fee  simple, 
or  operates  by  lease,  many  thousand  miles  of  railway 
in  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Missouri. 

In  1847,  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Union  Railroad,  which 
was  chartered  January  16,  1886,  was  put  under  construc- 
tion, and  the  close  of  1848  found  only  ten  miles  completed. 
The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  then  fixed  at 
$100,000,  with  power  to  increase  it  to  $1,000,000.  So 
timid  were  the  projectors  of  the  road  that  they  put  a 
clause  in  the  charter  which  authorized  them  to  build  a 
turnpike  in  case  they  failed  with  the  railroad.  It  was  in 
these  words : 

“That  if  at  any  time  after  the  passage  of  this  act  it 
shall  be  deemed  advisable  by  the  directors  of  the  said 
corporation  to  make  and  establish  a good,  permanent  turn- 
pike road  upon  any  portion  of  the  route  of  the  railroad 
by  this  act  authorized  to  be  constructed,  then  the  said 
directors  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  con- 
struct a turnpike  on  any  portion  of  the  said  route/’ 


86 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Passing  over  the  subsequent  struggles  of  the  road,  we 
will  say  that  from  this  modest  beginning  has  grown  the 
great  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Railway,  with  its  4,216 
miles  of  unsurpassed  track,  traversing  the  Western  States 
and  Territories,  and  reaching  far  in  the  direction  of  the 
Pacific  coast. 

The  ninety-nine  miles  of  railroad,  connecting  Quincy 
with  Galesburg,  which  was  built  under  a charter  granted 
by  the  Legislature  in  1849,  by  Nehemiah  Bushnell,  was 
bought  by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
Company,  under  a sale  of  foreclosure  by  the  bondhold- 
ers, and  it  now  forms  an  important  link  in  the  great  sys- 
tem of  roads  operated  by  that  rich  and  progressive  com- 
pany. But  since  then  the  road  has  been  extended 
from  Cairo — where  a bridge  spans  the  Ohio  River — to 
New7  Orleans,  and  branch  lines  penetrate  the  North- 
western States. 

February  10,  1851,  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  which 
had  been  projected  during  the  internal  improvement  sys- 
tem of  1837,  was  chartered,  and  Congress  gave  the  com- 
pany every  alternate  section  of  land  along  its  line  in  aid 
of  its  construction,  in  consideration  of  which  the  State 
was  to  receive  seven  per  cent,  of  the  gross  earnings.  The 
line  of  road  was  from  Cairo  to  Dunieith,  now  East  Du- 
buque, with  a branch  to  Chicago,  embracing  700  miles — 
the  whole  of  which  was  completed  September  .27,  1856. 

The  completion  of  this  great^line  of  railroad  at  once 
opened  up  a market  for  the  products  of  the  State,  and 
brought  the  lands  in  active  demand,  and  emigration 
poured  in  as  never  before. 

The  United  States  census  of  1850  had  given  the  State 
a population  of  but  851,470,  while  that  of  1860  swelled  it 
to  1,711,951. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  under  the  influence  of  this 
one  railroad  the  State  had  gained  in  less  than  ten  years 


APPENDIX. 


87 


1,060,485  inhabitants,  as  against  851,470  in  the  thirty-two 
years  previous.  No  grant  of  land  to  a railroad  company 
was  ever  more  judiciously  made.  It  enriched  alike  the 
railroad  company  and  the  State. 

As  to  the  canal  it  cost  the  State  over  $12,500,000, 
two  million  five  hundred  thousand  of  which  was  ex- 
pended by  Chicago  long  after  the  internal  improve- 
ment system  was  abandoned.  Its  length  in  miles  is 
but  ninety-two.  By  a vote  of  the  people  it  is  proposed 
to  cede  the  canal  with  all  its  rights  and  privileges  to 
the  United  States  under  certain  conditions,  but  con- 
gress has  been  slow  in  acting  upon  the  matter.  The 
truth  is,  the  country  has  outgrown  canals,  and  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  State  or  the  Nation  will  ever  invest 
any  considerable  amount  of  money  in  this  enterprise, 
as  it  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  a source  of  revenue  to 
the  State.  It  is  a little  strange  that  with  railroads 
running  parallel  with  it  on  either  side,  and  with  the 
canal  closed  hah*  the  year  by  being  frozen,  there  is 
found  anybody  willing  to  spend  time  in  advocating 
its  enlargements  or  extension,  for  sooner  or  later  it 
must  be  abandoned  as  a thing  not  belonging  to  the 
present  age.  The  problem  suggested  by  Governor 
Duncan  has  been  fully  solved.  It  seems  almost  in- 
credible to  say  that  in  1841  Illinois  had  but  one  rail- 
road, and  that  there  are  now  sixty-two,  embracing  10,- 
646  miles  of  main  lines,  branches  and  double  track,  as 
shown  by  the  report  of  the  Railroad  and  Warehouse 
Commission  for  December,  1888.  There  are  but  two 
counties  in  the  State  that  are  not  penetrated  by  one  or 
more  railroads,  and  Poor’s  Manual  for  1888,  shows 
that  Illinois  leads  all  of  the  States  in  the  Union  in  its 
number  of  miles  of  railway. 

State  Government — 1853-57. 

The  tenth  State  Government  was  inaugurated  with  Joel 
A.  Matteson,  of  Will,  as  Governor ; Gustavus  Koerner,  of 
St.  Clair,  Lieutenant-Governor;  David  L.  Gregg,  of  Cook, 


88 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Secretary  of  State;  Thomas  H.  Campbell,  of  Randolph, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts;  John  Moore,  of  McLean, 
Treasurer. 

The  first  session  of  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly 
convened  January  3,  1858,  and  adjourned  February  14. 
A second  session  convened  February  9,  1854,  and  adjourned 
March  4. 

Lieut. -Gov.  Kcerner  presided  over  the  Senate,  and  R. 
E.  Goodell  was  elected  Secretary.  John  Reynolds  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  John  Calhoun  Clerk. 

This  Legislature  became  famous  for  passing  the  black 
laws,  of  which  an  extended  mention  has  been  made  in  a 
preceding  chapter.  The  bill  passed  the  House  February 
5,  1858,  by  a vote  of  45  yeas  to  23  nays ; seven  members 
were  absent,  or  refrained  from  voting.  The  Senate  passed 
the  bill  February  11,  as  it  came  from  the  House,  by  a 
vote  of  13  yeas  to  9 nays ; three  Senators  were  absent  or 
refrained  from  voting.  On  February  12,  the  bill  received 
the  approval  of  Gov.  Matteson. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

PRINTING, 


When  Illinois  was  organized  as  a Territory  of  the  United 
States,  the  arts  of  printing  and  journalism  were  in  their 
infancy,  not  only  in  this,  but  in  all  countries.  Research 
shows  that  Matthew  Duncan  was  the  pioneer  journalist 
of  Illinois,  establishing  the  Herald , at  Kaskaskia,  in  1814. 
Prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Herald  legal  notices  were 
published,  by  act  of  December,  1813,  in  the  Louisiana 
Territory  (Missouri). 

In  the  Edwards  papers  we  find  a letter  from  Joseph 
Charless,  publisher  of  the  Missouri  Gazette— now  St. 
Louis  Republic— under  date  of  April  18,  1812,  pro- 
posing to  print  two  hundred  copies  of  the  laws  of 
Illinois  for  $150.  f 


APPENDIX. 


89 


The  Herald  was  a three-column  folio  until  1816,  when  it 
was  enlarged  to  a four-column  folio.  In  1817,  Daniel  P. 
Cook  and  Robert  Blackwell  bought  it.  Subsequently,  its 
name  was  changed  to  Intelligencer,  and  in  1820  it  was 
moved  to  Yandalia.  The  second  paper  in  the  State  was 
the  Emigrant,  established  as  an  anti- slavery  paper,  at 
Shawneetown,  in  1818,  by  Henry  Eddy  and  S.  H.  Kim- 
mell.  The  third  paper,  the  Spectator,  was  established  as 
an  anti-slavery  paper,  at  Edwardsville,  in  1819,  by  Hooper 
Warren.  In  1835,  the  number  of  weekly  newspapers  had 
multiplied  to  eighteen.  The  first  daily  paper  in  the  State 
— Daily  Express — was  established  at  Chicago,  in  1839,  and 
the  second — Democrat — in  the  same  city,  in  1840.  John 
Wentworth  was  the  editor  of  the  latter. 

The  first  book  or  pamphlet,  of  which  we  have  any  knowl- 
edge, printed  in  Illinois,  was  by  Matthew  Duncan,  at  Kas- 
kaskia ; it  bears  date  December  24,  1814.  It  contained  an 
act  establishing  a Supreme  Court,  the  letter  of  Judges  Jesse 
B.  Thomas  and  William  Sprigg  to  the  Legislature,  challeng- 
ing the  legality  of  the  act ; the  answer  of  the  Legislature 
to  the  Judges,  the  address  of  Gov.  Edwards  to  the  Legis- 
lature, and  the  memorial  of  the  Legislature  to  Congress, 
numbering,  in  all,  46  pages.  In  printing  this  book,  there 
were  but  three  fonts  of  type  used — burgeois,  small-pica 
and  English.  In  an  address  delivered  by  William  L.  Gross 
before  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association,  at  Springfield, 
January  6,  1881,  we  find  that  Matthew  Duncan  also  pub- 
lished the  first  volume  of  what  is  known  as  Pope’s  Digest,  in 
June,  1815.  These  books  are  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Gross, 
and  they  show  the  art  of  printing  in  its  most  primitive 
state. 

The  first  printing  press  used  in  Illinois  was  known  as  the 
Franklin  Ramage,  which  was  capable  of  printing  but  one 
page  of  a folio  newspaper  at  a time,  with  a capacity  of  240 


90 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


impressions  per  hour.  This  required  the  services  of  one 
man  and  a boy.  The  next  press  in  use  was  the  Wash- 
ington, which  printed  two  pages  at  a time,  with  a capacity 
of  300  impressions  per  hour.  Then  followed  the  power 
presses.  The  Konig,  with  a capacity  of  1,000  to  1,800 
impressions  per  hour;  the  Applegate,  5,000  to  10,000;  the 
Hoe  cylinder,  6,000  to  8,000;  Hoe  lightning,  10,000  to 
15,000 ; Hoe  ten-cylinder,  25,000.  Then  came  the  presses 
which  printed  the  paper  complete.  The  Walter,  with  a 
capacity  of  11,000;  Bullock,  11,000  to  20,000.  The  Walter 
and  Bullock  presses  print  from  a web  or  continuous 
roll  of  paper.  The  last  and  most  successful  invention  in 
newspaper  presses,  however,  is  the  perfecting  press,  whose 
capacity  is  30,000  to  32,000  per  hour.  On  this  press  the 
paper  is  printed  from  a web,  on  both  sides,  cut,  pasted 
and  folded  ready  for  the  carrier.  This  is  equivalent  to 
60,000  or  64,000  impressions  per  hour. 

The  Inter  Ocean  was  the  first  newspaper  in  this  country 
to  adopt  the  use  of  the  perfecting  press.  The  folder  was 
an  invention  of  Mr.  Walter  Scott,  of  Scotland,  who  was  an 
employee  of  the  Inter  Ocean  office  for  a number  of  years, 
and  at  that  time  foreman  of  the  machinery  department 
of  that  office.  For  a long  time  the  question  of  attaching 
a folder  to  the  web  presses  had  been  agitating  the  press- 
men and  press- builders,  but  all  attempts  had  failed  until 
Mr.  Scott  perfected  his  experiment  and  attached  it  suc- 
cessfully to  the  several  Bullock  presses  of  the  Inter  Ocean , 
since  which  time  his  invention  has  been  applied  to  all  the 
web  presses  by  whatever  name  manufactured,  and  the  in- 
vention rightfully  belongs  to  Illinois. 

Journalism  did  not  begin  in  Chicago  until  1833,  when 
John  Calhoun  established  the  Chicago  Democrat , a weekly 
parser.  In  1840,  the  Chicago  Democrat  was  issued  as  a 
daily  under  the  editorship  of  John  Wentworth,  and  in 
1858  it  was  consolidated  with  the  Tribune. 


APPENDIX. 


91 


In  1835  T.  0.  Davis  established  the  American  as  a 
weekly,  which  became  an  evening  daily  April  9,  1839,  with 
Wm.  Stuart  as  publisher.  W.  W.  Brackett  bought  the 
Evening  American  in  October,  1842,  and  changed  its  name 
to  the  Daily  Express . In  1844,  a company  of  Whigs  bought 
the  Express  office  and  established  the  Daily  Evening  Jour- 
nal, with  R.  L.  Wilson  as  editor,  the  first  number  of 
which  was  issued  April  22,  of  that  year.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  the  present  Chicago  Evening  Journal,  with 
whose  editorial  management  Andrew  Shuman  has  been 
connected  for  thirty-three  years.  He  became  chief  assist- 
ant editor  in  1856,  managing  editor  in  1861,  and  editor- 
in-chief  in  1878.  He  retired  in  January,  1889. 

April  4,  1840,  Charles  N.  Halcomb  & Co.  issued  the 
Weekly  Tribune,  the  first  newspaper  of  that  name  in  the 
United  States.  The  first  number  of  the  Daily  Tribune 
was  issued  July  10,  1847.  Its  owners  were  James  Kelly, 
John  E.  Wheeler  and  J.  C.  K.  Forrest,  the  two  last  named 
being  the  editors.  August  23,  1848,  John  L.  Scripps  be- 
came editor  and  owner.  In  September,  1855,  Dr.  Charles 
H.  Ray,  J.  C.  Vaughn  and  J.  Medill  became  editors,  and 
continued  as  such  until  July  1,  1858,  when  the  Democratic 
Press  and  the  Tribune  were  consolidated.  Dr.  Ray,  J. 
Medill,  J.  L.  Scripps  and  Wm.  Bross  became  the  editors. 
In  1861,  Mr.  Scripps  was  appointed  Postmaster  of  Chi- 
cago, when  his  editorial  connection  with  the  Tribune 
ceased.  Horace  White  became  editor  of  the  Tribune  Jan- 
uary 20,  1867,  and  retired  November  10,  1874,  since  which 
time  J.  Medill  has  been  editor-in-chief.  His  brother,  S. 
J.  Medill,* was  managing  editor  from  1874  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  in  February,  1883. 

Of  the  subsequent  dailies  in  Chicago,  which  are  now  in 
existence,  The  Times  was  established  in  1854,  with  James 
W.  Sheahan  editor,  until  1861,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
W.  F.  Storey;  the  Illinois  Staats  Zeitung  was  established 


92 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


in  1855;  Demokrat , in  1870.  John  Y.  Scammon  estab- 
lished the  Inter  Ocean , in  1872,  on  the  ruins  of  the  Chi- 
cago Republican . In  the  latter  part  of  that  year  the  Inter 
Ocean  was  purchased  by  a stock  company,  and  shortly 
after,  William  Penn  Nixon  became  business  manager,  and 
subsequently  secured  a controlling  interest,  and  the  paper 
is  now  conducted  under  his  direction.  In  1870,  the  Neue 
Freie  Presse  was  established ; in  1875,  the  News;  in  1876, 
the  Arbeiter  Zeitung , and  in  1881,  the  Herald . 

The  first  paper  published  at  Springfield  was  the 
Sangamo  Journal,  in  1831,  of  which  the  Illinois  State 
Journal  is  a continuation.  The  State  Register  was 
established  at  Vandalia,  in  1836,  but  was  removed  to 
Springfield  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of  the  State 
Capitol. 

With  the  journalism  of  Illinois  there  have  been  con- 
nected many  eminent  men,  who  have  taken  a prominent 
part  in  shaping  the  politics  or  destiny  of  the  State,  and 
we  call  to  mind  a few  who  have  been  a power  in  its 
councils : Henry  Eddy,  Shawneetown,  who  was  the  editor 
of  the  Illinois  Emigrant , and  wielded  a vigorous  pen  in 
1823,  in  opposition  to  the  attempt  to  make  Illinois  a slave 
State;  Rev,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  Alton;  John  Wentworth, 
C.  L.  Wilson,  Jas.  W.  Sheahan,  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  C,  H.  Ray, 
Joseph  Medill,  A.  C.  Hessing,  Andrew  Shuman,  Horace 
White,  John  L.  Scripps,  W.  F.  Storey,  Wm.  Bross,  Herman 
Raster,  Herman  Lieb,  Samuel  J.  Medill,  W.  K.  Sullivan, 
Chicago ; Austin  Brooks,  Quincy ; John  W.  Merritt,  Salem ; 
E.  R.  Roe,  Bloomington;  George  Scroggs,  Champaign; 

C.  H.  Lanphier,  who  commenced  his  apprenticeship  in 
the  State  Register , and  afterwards  became  sole  proprietor; 

D.  L.  Phillips,  John  M.  Palmer,  John  A.  McClernand, 
who  established,  edited  and  published  the  first  Democratic 
newspaper  in  Southern  Illinois;  George  Walker,  Simeon 
Francis,  who  established  the  Sangamo  Journal , Spring- 
field;  Enoch  Emory,  Eugene  F.  Baldwin,  Peoria;  W. 
W.  Sellers,  Pekin. 


APPENDIX. 


93 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

NINETEENTH  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY-1854-56, 


The  Nineteenth  General  Assembly  convened  January  1, 
1855,  and  adjourned  February  15. 

Lieut. -Gov.  Kcerner  presided  over  the  Senate,  and  Geo. 
T.  Brown  was  elected  Secretary.  Thomas  J.  Turner  was 
elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Edwin  T.  Bridges  Clerk. 

Among  the  familiar  names  in  this  Legislature  were 
these:  In  the  Senate,  Norman  B.  Judd,  Burton  C.  Cook, 
John  M.  Palmer,  Silas  L.  Bryan  and  Joseph  Gillespie; 
and  in  the  House,  Wm.  J.  Allen,  S.  W.  Moulton,  Stephen 
T.  Logan,  Chauncey  L.  Higbee  and  Owen  Lovejoy. 

One  of  the  important  duties  devolving  upon  this  Legis- 
lature was  the  election  of  a United  States  Senator,  to 
succeed  Senator  Shields,  and  the  two  houses  met  in  joint 
session  February  8,  and  balloted  for  Senator.  James 
Shields  was  the  Democratic  candidate,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  the  Whig.  On  the  first  ballot  Shields  received  41 
votes ; Lincoln,  45 ; scattering,  13.  On  the  second,  Shields 
received  41;  Lincoln,  43;  scattering,  15.  On  the  third, 
Shields  received  41 ; Lincoln,  41 ; scattering,  16.  On  the 
fourth,  Shields  received  41 ;‘  Lincoln,  38;  scattering,  19. 
On  the  fifth,  Shields  received  42 ; Lincoln,  34 ; scattering, 
23.  On  the  sixth,  Shields  received  41 ; Lincoln,  36 ; scat- 
tering, 21.  On  the  seventh  Shields’  name  was  withdrawn, 
and  that  of  Joel  A.  Matteson  substituted,  who  on  this 
ballot  received  44;  Lincoln,  38;  scattering,  16.  On  the 
eighth,  Matteson  received  46 ; Lincoln,  27 ; scattering,  25. 
On  the  ninth,  Matteson  received  47 ; and  Lincoln’s  name 
haying  been  withdrawn,  Trumbull  received  35 ; scattering, 
16.  On  the  tenth,  Trumbull  received  51 ; Matteson,  47 ; 


94 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


scattering,  1.  Mr.  Trumbull  having  received  a majority 
of  all  the  votes  cast,  was  declared  by  the  Speaker  Sen- 
ator-elect. 

This  was  at  the  time  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  excite- 
ment. John  M.  Palmer,  Norman  B.  Judd  and  Burton  C. 
Cook,  of  the  Senate,  and  Henry  S.  Baker  and  Geo.  T. 
Allen,  of  the  House,  were  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  and 
it  was  expected  that  in  some  stage  of  the  contest  they  would 
vote  with  the  Whigs,  who  were  all  Anti-Nebraska,  for  Lin- 
coln, which  would  have  secured  his  election  ; but  when  Mr. 
Lincoln  found,  through  his  friend  John  T.  Stuart,  whom 
he  had  authorized  to  confer  with  them,  that  they  could 
not  vote  for  him  for  the  reason  that  they  were  in- 
structed by  their  constituents  to  vote  for  an  anti-Nebraska 
Democrat,  then  it  w7as  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  standing  in 
the  lobby,  reached  over  with  his  long  arm,  touched  a 
member  of  the  House  and  directed  him  to  withdraw  his 
name,  which  being  done,  Mr.  Trumbull  was  elected  on 
the  next  ballot.  This  was  the  first  break  in  the  political 
control  of  the  State  by  the  Democratic  party  since  its 
organization,  and  the  election  of  Lyman  Trumbull  as  an 
outspoken  anti-slavery  man  was  the  forerunner  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Republican  party  in  1856. 


APPENDIX. 


95 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

PHYSICAL  RESOURCES. 


Washington  Advocates  the  Establishment  of  an  Agricultural  Bureau— Organi- 
zation of  the  State  Agricultural  Society— Lincoln  Signs  the  Bill— Law 
Authorizing  the  Organization  of  the  Society— First  Fair— Primitive  Farm- 
ing—Pleasing  Address  by  Professor  Turner— Wonderful  Advancement- 
Personnel  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 


On  the  physical  resources  of  a State  is  dependent  every- 
thing that  contributes  to  make  it  great  and  grand,  and  Illi- 
nois possesses  such  elements  in  an  eminent  degree.  In  her 
onward  march  in  greatness  and  wealth,  agriculture  and  its 
kindred  pursuits  have  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  progress  in 
other  branches  of  industry,  and  a retrospective  reference  to 
the  primitive  days  of  agriculture  will  be  pleasing  and  in- 
structive. In  contrast  with  the  early  mode  of  doing  farm 
work,  we  print  an  extract  from  a paper  penned  by  W.  C. 
Flagg,  in  1876,  which  gives  a vivid  picture  of  early  farming  : 

“Forty  or  fifty  years  ago  the  mould-boards  of  the  plows 
were  made  of  wood,  which  were  possibly,  in  some  cases, 
covered  with  hoop  iron.  The  plows  were  about  the  only 
implements  used  in  working  with  the  soil,  harrows  with 
wooden  teeth  and  rollers  being  poorly  made  and  but  little 
used.  Corn  planters  had  not  yet  superseded  the  barefooted 
boys  and  girls,  and  wheat  drills  were  entirely  unknown. 
The  grain  cradle,  a great  improvement  on  the  sickle,  though 
used  in  Madison  County,  it  is  said,  as  early  as  1819,  was 
but  just  coming  into  vogue.  Grass  was  still  cut  with  the 
scythe  and  raked  with  hand  rakes.  Wheat  and  other  grain 
was  tramped  out  with  horses,  who  traveled  in  a circle  over 
a carefully  adjusted  ring  of  bundles,  laid  with  heads  lapping 
over  the  but-ends,  and  toward  the  coming  hoofs.  All  this  has 
changed.  The  gang  and  sulky  plows  have  increased  the 
capacity  of  human  labor  and  decreased  its  severity.  Ma- 
chines drill  wheat,  cut  and  even  bind  the  grain,  and  thresh 
and  winnow  it.  Machines  cut,  rake,  load  and  pitch  the  hay.” 

45 


96 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


The  farmers  of  Illinois  were  slow  in  pressing  their  claims 
upon  the  attention  of  the  law-makers  of  the  State  and  Nation. 
Although  President  Washington,  in  his  annual  message  in 
1796,  recommended  to  Congress  the  necessity  of  the  passage 
of  an  act  creating  an  agricultural  bureau,  such  a bureau  was 
not  authorized  until  April  15th,  1862,  when  the  law  received 
the  approval  of  President  Lincoln,  and  it  is  fitting  that  the 
names  of  these  illustrious  men,  the  one  the  father  of  his 
country  and  the  other  its  preserver,  should  be  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  great  interests  of  agriculture.*  Prior  to 
this  time  the  interests  of  this  industry  were  assigned  to  a 
division  in  the  Patent  Office,  in  the  Interior  Department. 

The  State  Agricultural  Society  was  not  formed  until  as 
late  as  1853,  when  a delegate  convention  was  held  at  Spring- 
field,  February  5,  of  that  year,  for  that  purpose,  and  out  of 
the  ninety-nine  counties  then  organized,  only  seven  were  rep- 
resented. L.  S.  Pennington  represented  Whiteside  County ; 
H.  C.  Johns,  Piatt;  C.  E.  Potter,  Bronson  Murray,  L.  W. 
Weston  and  T.  L.  Bullock,  La  Salle;  I.  N.  Haynie,  James 
T.  Dwyer,  J.  M.  Oglesby,  C.  W.  Webster  and  A.  J.  Piercy, 
Marion;  J.  B.  Turner,  W.  H.  Hartley  and  Corridon  Cox, 
Morgan ; A.  G.  Herndon,  A.  B.  Cast,  J.  C.  Crowder,  Simeon 
Francis,  A.  B.  McConnell,  James  McConnell,  G.  L.  Lums- 
den,  F.  Dychus,  C.  W.  Chatterton  and  Job  Fletcher,  Sanga- 
mon; James  McBumey  and  A.  E.  Whitney,  Lee. 

James  McConnell  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Charles 
W.  Chatterton  was  appointed  Secretary  pro  tem.  The  per- 
manent organization  was  effected  by  the  selection  of  L.  W. 
Weston  as  President,  L.  S.  Pennington,  Vice-President,  and 
C.  W.  Webster,  Secretary. 

The  Blinois  State  Agricultural  Society  was  chosen  as  the 
name  the  organization  should  be  known  by.  A constitution 
was  adopted,  and  the  following  persons  became  members  by 
paying  the  sum  of  $1  and  signing  the  constitution:  John 
Wood,  David  Wolf  and  Michael  Collins,  of  Adams  County; 

*In  1889  the  Fiftieth  Congress  raised  this  bureau  to  a cabinet  position, 
and  Norman  J.  Colman  was  confirmed  Secretary. 


APPENDIX. 


97 


John  xi.  Kennicott,  Cook;  John  Wilbanks,  Jefferson;  T.  L. 
Bullock,  L.  W.  Weston,  Bronson  Murray,  W.  Chermesero, 
La  Salle ; James  McBurney  and  A.  R.  Whitney,  Lee ; J.  B. 
Turner,  W.  Brown,  WT.  H.  Hartley,  Corridon  Cox  and 
Edward  Lusk,  Morgan;  Smith  Fry  and  E.  M.  Powell, 
Peoria;  H.  C.  Johns,  J.  Brittenham  and  John  G.  Hubbard, 
Piatt;  Wm.  Ross,  Pike;  W.  K.  Johnson,  Fulton;  Giles  H. 
Turner,  Greene;  Lewis  Ellsworth,  DuPage;  H.  Prather, 
Macon;  G.  Haskell,  Winnebago;  Silas  Bryan,  C.  W.  Web- 
ster, J.  M.  Oglesby,  J.  T.  Dwyer,  Urial  Mills,  Jesse  Ray 
and  A.  J.  Piercy,  Marion;  J.  M.  Palmer,  Macoupin;  Asahel 
Gridley,  J.  E.  McClun,  W.  F.  M.  Arny  and  George  Young, 
McLean ; A.  B.  McConnell,  Alonzo  Holcomb,  S.  P.  Opdycke, 
J.  N.  Browm,  J.  A.  Pickrell,  A.  B.  Cast,  A.  G.  Herndon, 
Pascal  P.  Enos,  G.  W.  Chatterton  and  J.  B.  Perkins,  San- 
gamon; W.  H.  Bennett,  St.  Clair;  E.  A.  Paine,  Warren; 
L.  S.  Pennington,  Whiteside,  and  T.  L.  Harris,  Menard. 

James  N.  Brown  was  elected  President ; George  Haskell, 
John  A.  Kennicott,  J.  E.  McClun,  Smith  Fry,  M.  Collins, 
Francis  Aerenz,  H.  C.  Johns,  C.  W.  Webster,  and  I. 
Mitchell,  Vice-Presidents  ; Pascal  P.  Enos,  Recording  Secre- 
tary; Bronson  Murray,  Corresponding  Secretary,  andE.M. 
Powell,  Treasurer.  The  Vice-Presidents  represented  the 
several  Congressional  districts.  A resolution  was  passed 
asking  the  Legislature  to  appropriate  $1,000  a year,  for  two 
years,  and  I.  N.  Haynie,  Bronson  Murray  and  H.  C.  Johns 
were  appointed  a committee  to  lay  the  matter  before  the 
General  Assembly.  J.  B.  Turner,  Wm.  Brown  and  T.  L. 
Harris,  were  appointed  a committee  to  draft  an  agricultural 
address  to  the  people  of  the  State. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  a bill  signed  by  John  Reynolds, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  G.  Koerner, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate,  was  approved  by  Joel  A.  Matteson, 
Governor,  which  constituted  the  society  a legal  corporation. 


98 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


On  February  11th,  the  Governor  approved  an  act  appro- 
priating $1,000  per  annum  for  two  years,  for  the  promotion 
of  agricultural  and  mechanical  arts.  (See  first  volume  of 
State  Agricultural  Report.) 

The  first  State  Fair  was  held  at  Springfield,  October  llth^ 
12th,  13th  and  14th,  1853,  the  total  expenses  of  which 
were  $3,893.49,  leaving  a balance  in  the  treasury  of  $852.71. 
The  total  amount  paid  in  premiums  was  $944.45 ; other 
expenses,  $2,954.04.  At  the  time  the  first  fair  was 
held  the  Northern  Cross  was  the  only  railroad  in  the 
State,  with  the  termini  at  Meredosia  and  Springfield. 
The  Illinois  Central  was  then  only  in  course  of  con- 
struction. Here  was  really  the  beginning  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  State  in  point  of  agriculture.  The 
Prairie  Farmer , founded  in  1841,  was  the  first  agri- 
cultural journal  established  in  the  State,  and  it  has 
ever  been  foremost  in  pointing  the  way  to  advanced 
methods  in  farm  work. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1855,  stimulated  by  what 
had  been  accomplished  by  the  society  during  its  short 
existence,  made  an  appropriation  of  $50  to  county 
societies  to  be  paid  as  annual  premiums  to  exhibiters, 
which  sum  was  subsequently  increased  to  $100.  Such 
w as  the  beginning  of  what  is  now7  known  as  the  Illinois 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  w hich  has  exerted  a large 
influence  in  the  development  of  agriculture  in  the  State 

In  an  address  delivered  by  Professor  J.  B.  Turner  at  the 
fair  grounds  at  Jacksonville,  October  14,  1853,  the  speaker 
paid  a very  high  and  deserved  eulogy  to  labor.  Said  he : 

“There  is  a good  time  coming.  Poets  have  sung  of  their 
golden  era.  The  devout  of  all  ages  have  clung  to  this  hope, 
and  their  sages  and  prophets,  in  the  hoar  of  the  darkest 
gloom,  have  ever  fixed  their  eyes  upon  the  future  rising  of 
this  millenium  dawn.  God  seems  to  have  impressed  the  con- 
viction of  its  approach  upon  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  race. 

“But  when  poetry  and  art,  and  philosophy  and  faith  shall 
greet  the  first  risings  of  this  long  desired  day,  labor  shall  be 


APPENDIX. 


99 


there — labor — first  in  the  primeval  paradise  before  the  fall — 
first  companion  of  the  Son  of  God ; first  at  the  cross  and 
first  at  the  tomb ; first  and  almost  sole  to  bear  the 
triumphs  of  that  cross  abroad.  Labor — the  source  and 
producer  of  all  else  shall  be  there,  too,  acknowledged  tri- 
umphant, and  crowned  as  the  true  glory  and  giver  of  all. 

“This  millenium  of  labor  is  fast  coming.  I see  it  in  its 
errand-boys,  borne  from  the  thunder-cloud,  outracing  the 
sun ; in  its  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  and  steel,  that  dash 
across  every  continent  and  every  mountain  height.” 

Speaking  of  the  advancement  the  country  had  then  made 
in  point  of  new  modes  of  travel,  he  said : 

“No  longer  ago  than  February  25,  1811,  the  celebrated 
Robert  Fulton  wrote  from  New  York  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Chancellor  Livingston,  in  Albany,  proposing  to  construct  a 
locomotive  that  would  run  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour . 

“The  Chancellor  replied  in  substance,  that  he  thought  so 
great  speed  for  such  enormous  bodies  exceedingly  danger- 
ous and  utterly  impracticable 

“It  took  Fulton’s  letter,  as  the  correspondence  shows, 
thirteen  days  to  reach  its  destination 

“What  has  made  the  difference  between  this  vast  con- 
course of  freemen,  with  all  their  multiform  and  varied  pro- 
ducts, and  the  great  councils  of  naked  sachems  and  war- 
riors that  gathered  upon  these  same  plains  not  half  a century 
since  ? The  same  sun  and  stars  shone  on  them  as  on  us  ; 
the  same  soil  and  climate  and  productive  powers  of  nature 
were  theirs,  and  had  been  for  ages ; while  in  bodily  and 
muscular  strength  and  hardihood  they  were  greatly  our 
superiors.  Where,  then,  lies  the  difference  ? You  have  mind, 
which  they  had  not,  and  this  is  the  whole  of  it — mind , mind, 
the  great  motive  power  of  the  universe,  exists  and  works 
through  you,  as  it  did  through  them.  This  alone  is  the 
steam  power  of  the  eternities.  It  is  the  high  prerogative  of 
this  mind  to  overmaster  and  enslave  all  matter  and  reduce 
it  to  a perfect  subjection  to  its  wants  and  uses.  Mind  is 
the  only  freeman,  and  matter  the  only  slave  God  ever  made. 
That  man,  therefore,  or  that  class  of  men  who  have  most 
mind,  will  most  nearly  approximate  the  condition  of  free- 
dom, and  those  who  have  least  will  invariably  sink  to  the 
nearest  level  with  the  slave.” 


100 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Addressing  himself  to  the  education  of  the  farmer,  he  said : 

“Do  not  imagine  that  when  I speak  of  education,  I have 
in  my  heart  the  malice  prepense  of  designing  to  set  you  all, 
as  industrial  men,  to  jabbering  Greek  and  Latin,  or  poring 
over  the  abstractions  of  mathematics  and  metaphysics,  as 
though  you,  and  all  your  great  interests,  and  the  whole  uni- 
verse of  God,  were  all  tongue,  or  all  cones  and  cobweb.  . . . 

“I  would  have  you  look  abroad  upon  the  green  earth,  as 
God  made  it,  and  view  at  one  and  the  same  glance,  with  the 
true  poet’s  and  philosopher’s  eye,  the  fields  and  woods  you 
range — the  soil  you  till— the  flocks  you  tend — the  products 
you  raise  or  produce — their  highest  adaptations  and  capabili- 
ties— the  latest  causes  of  their  failure  or  success — the  best 
means  of  evolving  from  the  productive  powers  of  earth  the 
finest  products  and  greatest  amount  of  human  weal  with 
the  least  amount  of  toil — your  personal  rights,  and  your 
highest  duties  to  your  family,  your  neighbors,  your  country, 
to  posterity  and  to  God.  These  are  themes  that  pertain  to 
your  business,  as  industrial  freemen — to  your  interests,  and 
the  interests  of  your  race — to  the  development  in  each  of 
you,  your  sons  and  your  daughters,  of  that  health  and  vigor 
of  body,  peace  and  serenity  of  mind,  self-respect,  and  re- 
spect of  the  world,  in  your  vocations,  so  essential  to  your 
highest  interests,  and  the  entire  perfection  of  your  man- 
hood. 

“These  are  themes  which  shall  give  you  that  power  of 
mind  and  enlargement  of  soul  in  your  pursuits,  which  moves 
the  world — that  has  this  day  exhibited  its  products  and  its 
triumphs  over  our  more  savage  predecessors,  on  this  same 
soil — and  shall,  at  no  distant  future,  achieve  such  miracles 
of  wonder  as  the  world  has  never  before  seen 

“We  must  awake  to  a sense  of  our  own  need,  our  dignity 
and  our  rights.  We  must  respect  ourselves,  and  our  pro- 
fessions, as  God  and  nature  designed  that  we  should,  and 
then  we  shall  have  no  need  to  challenge  the  respect  of  man- 
kind. We  are  not  oppressed  by  our  brethren  of  the  pro- 
fessional classes ; we  are  simply  depressed  by  neglecting  to 
do  for  ourselves  what  they  have  already  wisely  and  properly 
done  for  themselves ; and  they  now  exhort  us  to  do  the 
same;  and  we  must  do  it.” 

Professor  Turner  has  lived  to  see  the  desire  of  his  heart 
fulfilled  almost  to  the  letter. 


APPENDIX. 


101 


CHAPTER  XXIV, 

JUDICIARY. 


First  Supreme  Court— The  Chief  Justice  and  Justices  Hold  the  Circuit 
Courts— First  Circuit  Judges— Circuit  Courts  Abolished— The  Chief  Jus- 
tice and  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  Again  Required  to  Hold  the  Cir- 
cuit Courts— One  Circuit  Judge  Provided  for— Supreme  Court  Again  Re- 
lieved from  Holding  the  Circuit  Courts— Circuit  Courts  Again  Abolished., 
and  the  Chief  Justice  and  Associate  Justices  Again  Required  to  Hold  the, 
Circuit  Courts— Constitution  of  1848— The  Judiciary  Elected  by  the  Peo- 
ple—A Chief  Justice  and  Two  Associate  Justices  Comprise  the  Supreme, 
Court— Constitution  of  1870— The  Elective  System  Continued— Personnel' 
of  the  Courts— The  Supreme  Court  Increased  from  Three  Members  to 
Seven— Organization  of  the  Circuit  Courts— Creation  of  the  Appellate 
Court— Clerks  of  the  Supreme  Court— Reporters  of  the  Supreme  Court— 
Illinois  Reports. 


Illinois  may  well  be  proud  of  her  judiciary,  for  it  stands 
without  a blemish  upon  its  character,  and  a reference  to  its 
early  organization  and  the  many  changes  it  has  undergone 
under  the  three  constitutions  will  doubtless  prove  a pleasing 
subject  to  many  who  read  these  pages.  The  Constitution 
of  1818  provided  that  the  judicial  power  of  the  State  should 
be  vested  in  a Supreme  Court,  and  such  inferior  courts  as 
the  Legislature  should  from  time  to  time  create.  The  Jus- 
tices of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  judges  of  the  inferior 
courts,  were  selected  by  joint  ballot  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly and  commissioned  by  the  Governor.  The  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  were  required  at  different  times  to  hold 
the  Circuit  Courts  in  the  several  counties.  In  Freeman's  his- 
tory of  the  Supreme  and  Circuit  Courts,  found  in  “Treatise 
on  Pleadings  and  Practice,”  we  find  that  the  first  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  consisted  of  Joseph  Phillips,  Chief  Jus- 
tice; Thomas  C.  Browne,  William  P.  Foster  and  John  Rey- 
nolds, Associate  Justices,  all  of  whom  were  commissioned 


102 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


on  the  9th  day  of  October,  1818.  Chief  Justice  Phillips  re- 
signed July  4,  1822,  and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Rey- 
nolds, as  Chief  Justice,  who  was  appointed  August  31,  1822, 
and  re-commissioned  January  14,  1828.  Justice  Foster 
resigned  July  7,  1819,  and  on  the  same  day  William  Wilson 
was  appointed  as  his  successor,  and  was  re-commissioned 
February  6, 1821.  Those  whose  commissions  expired  at  the 
end  of  the  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  was 
begun  and  held  after  January  1,  1824,  were : Thomas  Rey- 
nolds, Chief  Justice;  Thomas  C.  Browne,  John  Reynolds, 
William  Wilson,  Associate  Justices. 

The  new  court,  commissioned  January  19,  1825,  consisted 
of  William  Wilson,  Chief  Justice;  Samuel  D.  Lockwood, 
Theophilus  W.  Smith,  Thomas  C.  Browne,  Associate  Jus- 
tices. 

The  Supreme  Court,  as  thus  constituted,  continued  until 
the  number  was  increased  to  nine,  under  the  act  of  February 
10,  1841. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1824,  an  act  was  passed  provid- 
ing for  five  Circuit  Judges.  By  this  act  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  were  relieved  of  the  performance  of  circuit 
duties.  The  Judges  appointed  under  this  act  were  John  Y. 
Sawyer,  Judge  First  Circuit;  Samuel  McRoberts,  Judge 
Second  Circuit ; Richard  M.  Young,  Judge  Third  Circuit ; 
James  Hall,  Judge  Fourth  Circuit;  James  0.  Wattles, 
Judge  Fifth  Circuit ; all  of  whom  were  commissioned  Jan- 
uary 19, 1825,  and  legislated  out  of  office  by  act  of  January 
12, 1827.  The  State  was  then  divided  into  four  judicial  cir- 
cuits, and  the  Chief  Justice  and  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  were  again  required  to  perform  circuit  duties,  and 
these  continued  to  hold  all  the  courts  until  a Circuit  Judge 
was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  in  pursuance  of  an 
act  of  January  8,  1829,  which  provided  for  the  election  of 
one  Circuit  Judge,  who  should  preside  in  the  circuit  to  which 


APPENDIX. 


103 


he  might  be  appointed,  north  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  at 
the  same  session  the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit  was  created,  in 
which  the  Circuit  Judge  was  required  to  preside.  Richard 
M.  Young  was  commissioned  Circuit  Judge,  January  23, 
1829,  and  assigned  to  duty  in  the  Fifth  Circuit. 

The  Circuit  Courts  thus  continued  to  be  held  until  the 
passage  of  an  act,  January  7,  1835,  which  relieved,  for  a 
second  time,  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  from  hold- 
ing courts  in  the  circuits,  and  authorized  the  election  of 
five  Circuit  Judges.  The  Judges  elected  under  this  act 
were  Stephen  T.  Logan,1  First  Judicial  Circuit;  Sidney 
Breese,  Second  Judicial  Circuit;  Henry  Eddy,2 3  Third 
Judicial  Circuit ; Justin  Harlan,  Fourth  Judicial  Circuit ; 
Thomas  Ford,8  Sixth  Judicial  Circuit.  At  the  same  ses- 
sion a Sixth  Judicial  Circuit  was  created.  Richard  M. 
Young4 * * *  continued  to  hold  the  courts  of  the  Fifth  Circuit. 

A Seventh  Judicial  Circuit  was  created  by  act  of  Feb- 
ruary 4,  1837,  and  John  Pearson  was  commissioned  Judge 
February  8,  1837,  and  resigned  November  20,  1840.  By 
act  of  February  23,  1839,  the  Eighth  and  Ninth  Circuits 
were  created.  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  commissioned  Judge 
of  the  eighth,  February  25,  1839,  but  soon  after  resigned,  and 
the  Governor  appointed  Samuel  H.  Treat  his  successor, 
May  27,  1839.  Judge  Treat  was  elected  and  re-commis- 
sioned  January  31,  1840.  Thomas  Ford  was  commissioned 
as  Judge  of  the  Ninth  Circuit,  February  25,  1839. 

1 Judge  Logan  resigned  in  1837,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  Brown,  who 
was  commissioned  March  20, 1837.  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr.,  was  commissioned 
July  20,  1837,  as  the  successor  of  Judge  Brown,  and  William  Thomas  was 
commissioned  February  25, 1839,  as  successor  to  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr. 

2 Judge  Eddy  resigned  February  10, 1835,  and  was  succeeded  by  Alex.  F. 
Grant,  who  was  commissioned  the  same  month,  and  Walter  B.  Scates  was 
commissioned  December  26, 1836,  as  successor  to  Judge  Grant. 

3Judge  Ford  resigned  in  March,  1837,  and  Dan  Stone  was  commissioned 
as  his  successor  on  March  4, 1837. 

4Judge  Young  resigned  January  2, 1837,  and  was  succeeded  by  James  H 

Ralston,  who  was  commissioned  February  4,  1837,  and  resigned  August  31, 

1839.  He  was  succeeded  by  Peter  Lott,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Governor 

September  9,  1839,  and  elected  and  re-commissioned  in  the  December  follow- 


104 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS, 


The  judiciary  was  reorganized  by  the  act  of  February 
10,  1841.  It  repealed  all  former  laws  relating  to  Circuit 
Courts,  and  legislated  the  judges  out  of  office,  and  it  pro- 
vided for  the  election  of  five  Associate  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  who,  in  connection  with  the  Chief  Justice  and 
three  Associates  then  in  office,  were  to  constitute  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  were  required  also  to  perform  circuit  duties. 
The  Supreme  Court,  as  organized  under  this  act,  was  as 
follows : First  Circuit,  Justice  Lockwood ; Second  Circuit, 
Justice  Breese1;  Third  Circuit,  Justice  Scates2;  Fourth 
Circuit,  Chief  Justice  Wilson ; Fifth  Circuit,  Justice  Doug- 
las3 ; Sixth  Circuit,  Justice  Browne ; Seventh  Circuit,  Justice 
Smith4;  Eighth  Circuit,  Justice  Treat;  Ninth  Circuit, 
Justice  Ford5. 

The  Judiciary  thus  constituted  continued  until  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  1848. 


1 Justice  Breese  resigned  December  19,  1842,  and  was  succeeded  by  James 
Semple,  who  was  lelected  and  commissioned  January  16,  1843.  Resigned 
August  16, 1843,  and  was  succeeded  by  James  Shields,  who  was  re-appointed 
by  the  Governor  August  16,  1843,  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  February 

17. 1845,  and  commissioned  February  18, 1845.  Justice  Shields  resigned  April* 

2. 1845,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gustavus  P.  Koerner,  who  was  appointed  by 
the  Governor  April  2,  1845,  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  December  19, 
1846,  and  commissioned  December  21, 1846. 

2 Justice  Scates  resigned  January  11, 1847,  and  was  succeeded  by  William 
A.  Denning,  who  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  January  18, 1847,  and 
commissioned  January  19, 1847. 

3Justice  Douglas  resigned  June  28,  1843,  and  was  succeeded  by  Jesse  B. 
Thomas,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  August  6,  1843,  elected  by  the 
General  Assembly  February  17,  1845,  and  commissioned  February  18,  1845, 
and  resigned  August  8, 1845.  Justice  Thomas  was  succeeded  by  Norman  H. 
Purple,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  August  8,  1845,  elected  by  the 
General  Assembly  December  19, 1846,  and  commissioned  December  21, 1846. 

4Justice  Smith  resigned  December  26, 1842,  and  was  succeeded  by  Richard 
M.  Young,  who  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  commissioned 
February  4, 1843,  and  resigned  January  25, 1847.  Justice  Young  was  succeeded 
by  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  who  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  com- 
missioned January  27, 1847. 

5 Justice  Ford  resigned  August  1, 1842,  and  John  D.  Caton  was  appointed 
his  successor  by  the  Governor  August  20, 1842.  Justice  Caton  was  succeeded 
by  John  M.  Robinson,  who  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  com- 
missioned March  6,  1843,  and  died  April.  27,  1843.  Justice  Caton  was  re-ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor  May  2,  1843,  as  successor  to  Justice  Robinson; 
elected  by  the  General  Assembly  February  17, 1845,  and  commissioned  Febru- 
ary 18,  1845. 


APPENDIX. 


105 


Under  the  Constitution  of  1848,  the  tenure  of  office  of  the 
Judges  was  wisely  placed  beyond  the  control  of  partisan 
Legislatures,  being  for  the  first  time,  in  the  history  of  the 
Judiciary  of  the  State,  elected  directly  by  the  people,  and 
their  tenure  of  office  was  fixed  by  the  Constitution  itself, 
thereby  giving  greater  stability,  independence  and  useful- 
ness to  that  department  of  the  State  Government.  Remark- 
ing on  the  existence  of  the  Circuit  Courts  under  the  Con- 
stitution of  1818,  Mr.  Freeman,  in  his  treatise  referred  to, 
says : 

“There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  it  is  correct  to  say, 
that  originally,  the  Circuit  Courts  formed  no  part  of  the 
judicial  system  of  the  State  as  created  by  the  Constitution 
of  1818.  It  is  true,  that  there  are  some  evidences  in  that 
instrument  of  the  recognition  of  the  existence  of  Circuit 
Courts;  it  is  declared  that  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  should  “hold  Circuit  Courts ” in  the  several  counties, 
in  such  manner  and  at  such  times,  and  should  have  and 
exercise  such  jurisdiction  as  the  General  Assembly  should 
by  law  prescribe;  but  that  after  a certain  period  (1824)  the 
said  Justices  “should  not  hold  Circuit  Courts ” unless  re- 
quired by  law;  and  that  the  Circuit  Courts , or  the  Justices 
thereof,  should  appoint  their  own  clerks. 

“But  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  arecognition  of  such  courts 
in  this  manner  would  give  them  an  existence  without  legis- 
lative enactment,  when  by  the  same  instrument  it  was 
declared  that  the  judicial  power  of  the  State  should  be 
vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as 
the  General  Assembly  should , from  time  to  time,  ordain  and 
establish.  The  General  Assembly  undoubtedly  understood 
that  all  other  courts  in  the  State,  except  the  Supreme  Court, 
depended  upon  legislative  enactment  for  their  existence. 
The  language  in  several  acts,  embracing  the  period  from 
1827  to  1841,  clearly  indicates  that  the  Legislature  believed 
that  the  Circuit  Courts  were  so  far  the  creatures  of  that  body 
that  they  had  the  power  at  any  time  to  repeal  them,  and 
thereby  to  legislate  out  of  office  the  Circuit  Judges,  whose 
tenure  of  office  was  during  good  behavior,  and  this  was 
done,  once  in  1827,  and  again  in  1841.  ” 

The  Supreme  Court  created  under  the  Constitution  of  1848, 
consisted  of  a Chief  Justice  and  two  Associate  Justices,  whose 


106 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


terms  of  office  were  fixed  at  nine  years,  with  alternate  elec- 
tions. The  first  election  took  place  September  4,  1849,  and 
Samuel  H.  Treat,  of  the  Second  Grand  Division,  was  chosen 
Chief  Justice;  Lyman  Trumbull,  of  the  First  Grand 
Division,  and  John  D.  Caton,  of  the  Third  Grand  Division, 
Associate  Justices. 

Chief  Justice  Treat  resigned  in  1855,  having  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  bench  of  the  United  States  District  Court, 
for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois.  Onias  C.  Skinner  was 
elected  by  the  people  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Treat.  Justice  Skinner  having  also  re- 
signed, his  vacancy  was  filled  by  the  appointment,  by  the 
Governor,  of  Pinkney  H.  Walker,  who  was  afterwards  elected 
by  the  people. 

Justice  Trumbull  resigned  July  4,  1858,  and  Walter  B. 
Scates  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  became  the  Chief 
Justice ; and  upon  his  resignation,  Sidney  Breese  was 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Justice  Caton  became  Chief 
Justice  upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Scates. 

Chief  Justice  Caton  resigned  in  January,  1864,  and  Cory- 
don  Beckwith  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy ; Charles  B.  Lawrence  was  elected  June  6,  1864,  to 
succeed  Justice  Beckwith;  Pinkney  H.  Walker*  was  re- 
elected June  8,  1867,  Justice  Breese  was  re-elected  June  6, 
1870.  This  constituted  the  Supreme  Court  up  to  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution,  on  July  2,  1870, 

^Justice  Walker  became  Chief  Justice  at  the  June  term,  1864;  Justice 
Breese  succeeded  him  in  June,  1867;  Justice  Lawrence  Jbecame  Chief  Justice 
in  June,  1870;  Justice  Breese  again  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1873;  Justice 
Walker  again  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1874;  Justice  Scott  became  Chief 
Justice  in  June,  1875;  Justice  Sheldon  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1876;  Jus- 
tice Scholfleld  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1877;  Justice  Craigbecame  Chief 
Justice  in  June,  1878;  Justice  Walker  became  Chief  Justice  for  the  third  time 
in  June,  1879;  Justice  Dickey  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1880;  Justice  Craig 
again  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1881;  Justice  Scott  again  became  Chief 
Justice  in  1882 ; Justice  Sheldon  again  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1883 ; Jus- 
tice Scholfleld  again  became  Chief  Justice  in  June,  1884;  Justice  Mulkey  be- 
came Chief  Justice  in  June,  1885;  and  Justice  Scott  became  Chief  Justice  for 
the  third  time  in  June,  1886. 


APPENDIX. 


107 


when  the  Supreme  Court  was  increased  from  three  to  seven 
members.  At  this  election  Anthony  Thornton,  John  M. 
Scott,  Benj.  B.  Sheldon,  and  Wm.  K.  McAllister,  were 
elected  as  the  four  additional  Justices.  Justice  Thornton 
resigned  May  3,  1873,  and  John  Scholfield  was  elected  June 
4,  1873.  Justice  McAllister  resigned  Nov.  26,  1875 ; T.  Lyle 
Dickey  was  elected  Dec.  21,  1875,  to  fill  the  vacancy;  Alfred 
M.  Craig  was  elected  June,  1873,  to  succeed  Justice  Lawrence. 
Chief  Justice  Walker  was  re-elected  June  5,  1876;  Chief 
Justice  Breese  died  June  28,  1878;  David  J.  Baker  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor  to  fill  the  vacancy;  John  H.  Mul- 
key  was  elected  June  2,  1879,  to  succeed  Justice  Baker,  and 
Justices  Scott,  Sheldon,  Scholfield  and  Dickey  were  re- 
elected at  the  same  election.  Justice  Walker  died  February 
7,  1885,  and  D.  G.  Tunnicliff  was  appointed  by  the  Gover- 
nor to  fill  the  vacancy ; Simeon  P.  Shope  was  elected  in  1885, 
to  succeed  Justice  Tunnicliff ; Justice  Dickey  died  July  22, 
1885,  and  Benjamin  D.  Magruder  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy.  The  Court  as  now  constituted,  is  as  follows : 

John  Schofield,  Marshall;  J.  M.  Bailey,  Freeport; 
David  J.  Baker,  Cairo;  Alfred  M.  Craig,  Galesburg; 
Simeon  P.  Shope,  Lewistown;  Benj.  D.  Magruder, 
Chicago;  J.  W.  Wilkin,  Danville. 

Under  the  present  constitution  it  is  possible  for  the  people 
to  change  a majority  of  the  personnel  of  the  Supreme  Court 
at  a single  election.  In  June,  1870,  Judge  Breese  was  re- 
elected under  the  constitution  of  1848,  and  on  July  2,  of  the 
same  year,  four  of  the  seven  Judges  of  the  court,  as  pro- 
vided for  in  the  new  constitution,  were  elected  for  the  period 
of  nine  years,  from  the  first  Monday  in  June,  1870.  The 
constitution  of  1870  did  not  interfere  with  the  tenure  of 
office  of  the  then  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  there- 
fore five  Judges  are  to  be  elected  every  nine  years. 


108 


POLITICS  AND  POLITICIANS  OF  ILLINOIS. 


There  have  been,  from  first  to  last,  five  Reporters  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  namely:  Sidney  Breese,  John 
Young  Scammon,  Charles  Gilman,  Ebenezer  Peck  and 
Norman  L.  Freeman.  Mr.  Breese  published  the  first 
volume  of  the  Reports,  Mr.  Scammon  published  four, 
Mr.  Gilman  published  five,  Mr.  Peck  published  twenty, 
and  Mr.  Freeman  has  published  ninety-five,  which 
makes  a total  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  volumes. 

The  Judiciary  of  Illinois  has  ever  been  held  in  high 
esteem.  Nowhere  is  its  history  marred  with  the  charge 
of  corruption,  and  this  has  given  it  the  universal  re- 
spect and  confidence  of  the  people.  A great  many 
anecdotes  are  related  regarding  the  early  courts,  but 
the  following,  from  Ford’s  History,  will  serve  to  amuse 
the  reader,  and  at  the  same  time,  show  the  wide  con- 
trast between  the  practice  of  the  courts  then  and  now : 

“The  Judges  in  early  times,  in  Illinois,  were  gentle- 
men of  considerable  learning.  In  general,  they  were 
averse  to  deciding  questions  of  law.  They  never  gave 
instructions  to  a jury  unless  expressly  called  for,  and 
then  only  on  the  points  of  law  raised  by  counsel  ask- 
ing for  them.  I knew  one  Judge,  who,  when  asked  for 
instructions,  would  rub  his  head  and  the  side  of  his 
face  with  his  hand,  as  if  perplexed,  and  say  to  the 
lawyers,  ‘ Why,  gentlemen,  the  jury  understand  the 
case;  they  need  no  instructions;  no  doubt  they  wrill 
do  justice  between  the  parties.’  This  same  Judge  pre- 
sided at  a court  in  wrhich  a man  named  Green  was 
convicted  of  murder,  and  it  became  his  unpleasant 
duty  to  pronounce  sentence  of  death  upon  him.  He 
called  the  prisoner  before  him  and  said  to  him:  ‘Mr. 
Green,  the  jury  in  their  verdict  say  you  are  guilty  of 
murder,  and  the  lawT  says  you  are  to  be  hung.  Now, 
I want  you  and  all  your  friends  down  on  Indian 
Creek  to  know  that  it  is  not  I who  condemns  you,  but 
it  is  the  jury  and  the  law.  Mr.  Green,  the  law  allows 


APPENDIX. 


109 


yon  time  for  preparation,  and  so  the  Court  wants  to 
know  what  time  you  would  like  to  be  hung?5  To 
this  the  prisoner  replied,  ‘May  it  please  the  Court,  I 
am  ready  at  any  time;  those  who  kill  the  body  have 
no  power  to  kill  the  soul;  my  preparation  is  made, 
and  I am  ready  to  suffer  at  any  time  the  Court  may 
appoint.5  The  Judge  then  said,  ‘Mr.  Green,  you  must 
know  that  it  is  a very  serious  matter  to  be  hung;  it 
cannot  happen  to  a man  more  than  once  in  his  life, 
and  you  had  better  take  all  the  time  you  can  get ; the 
Court  will  give  you  until  this  day  four  weeks.  Mr. 
Clerk,  look  at  the  almanac  and  see  whether  this  day 
four  weeks  comes  on  Sunday.5  The  clerk  looked  at 
the  almanac,  as  directed,  and  reported  that  that  day 
four  weeks  came  on  Thursday.  The  Judge  then  said, 
‘Mr.  Green,  the  Court  gives  you  until  this  day  four' 
weeks,  at  which  time  you  are  to  be  hung.5  The  case 
was  prosecuted  by  James  Turney,  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral of  the  State,  who  here  interposed  and  said : ‘May 
it  please  the  Court,  on  solemn  occasions  like  the 
present,  when  the  life  of  a human  being  is  to  be  sen- 
tenced away  for  crime  by  an  earthly  tribunal,  it  is 
usual  and  proper  for  Courts  to  pronounce  a formal 
sentence,  in  which  the  leading  features  of  the  crime 
shall  be  brought  to  the  recollection  of  the  prisoner,  a 
sense  of  his  guilt  impressed  upon  his  conscience,  and 
in  which  the  prisoner  should  be  duly  exhorted  to  re- 
pentance and  warned  against  the  judgment  in  a world 
to  come.5  To  this  the  Judge  replied,  ‘0,  Mr.  Turney, 
Mr.  Green  understands  the  whole  matter  as  well  as  if 
I had  preached  to  him  a month.  He  knows  he  has 
got  to  be  hung  this  day  four  weeks.  You  understand 
it  in  that  way,  Mr.  Green,  do  you  not?5  ‘Yes,5  said 
the  prisoner,  upon  which  the  Judge  ordered  him  to  be 
remanded  to  jail,  and  the  court  then  adjourned.55 


INDEX 


About  Colored  People,  329, 

About  Prohibition,  585. 

About  Women,  452. 

A Case  of  Kidnapping,  343. 

According  to  the  Gentleman  from  Jefferson,  417. 

Action  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  Occupation  of  Chicago  by  U.  S. 

Troops,  368. 

Adair,  A.  M.,  274,  276. 

Adams,  Geo.  E.,  303,  473,  594. 

Adams,  John,  1. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  2. 

Admission  of  California,  17,  20. 

Adoption  of  Amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  351,  352. 
A Free  Boy’s  Experience,  346. 

Albright,  F.  E.  475. 

Aldrich,  Wm.,  253,  264,  276. 

Allen,  J.  C.,  99,  101,  145,  146,  163,  164,  421. 

Allen,  T.  G.  104. 

Allen,  W.  J.,  147,  166,  200,  266,  517. 

Allen,  Willis,  517. 

Altgeldt,  J.  P.,  473. 

Ambler,  J.  C.,  104. 

Anarchist  Riot  at  Chicago,  524. 

An  Attempt  to  Kidnap  Richard  Yates,  106. 

Anderson,  W.  B.,  244,  255. 

An  Exciting  Political  Episode,  421. 

An  Exciting  Scene  in  Congress,  534. 

An  Insult  to  the  Nation  and  President,  287. 

A Political  Revolution  in  Chicago,  609. 

A Remarkable  Incident,  430. 

Appropriations  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1889,  602. 

Armstrong,  G.  W.  44. 

A One-Idea  Court,  197. 

Arnold,  Isaac  N.,  130,  380,  37,  102,  146,  390,  530. 

Arntzen,  Bernard,  99,  102. 

Arrest  of  Anarchist  Leaders,  525. 

Ashcraft,  E.  M.  255. 

Aspern,  H.  T.,  251,  253. 

Assassination  of  Lincoln,  195. 

Austin,  H.  W.,  473. 

Avery,  Julius,  216. 

A Vision  of  War— R.  G.  Ingersoll,  249. 


Bagby,  J.  C.,  244. 

Baker,  E.  D.,  379. 

Baker,  H.  L.,  255. 

Baker,  J.  D.,  30. 

Baker,  Jehu,  45,  165,  200,  265,  595. 

Ba  dwin,  H.  E.,  472. 

Baldwin,  S.  G.,  44. 

Barber,  Hiram,  33,  264. 

Barber,  R.  ED  277. 

Barlow,  W.  H.,  305. 

Barnes,  G.  O.,  232. 

Bartlett,  J.  P.,  473. 

Bartley,  Milton,  147. 

Barriere,  G.,  232. 

Bateman,  Newton,  43,  94,  99.  102,  145,  146,  164,  167,  199,  200,  216,  221,  227,  235. 
Bates,  E.  N.,  205,  216,  221,  263. 

Batty,  David,  244. 

Bayne,  J.  G.,  243. 

Beard,  T.  A.  C.,  102. 

Beardsley,  J.  J.,  35. 


112 


INDEX, 


Becker,  Charles,  565  , 593,  599. 

Before  The  Conflict,  131. 

Belleville  Advocate,  559. 

Bell,  A.  J.,  593,  576. 

Bell,  Robert,  266. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  14,  21. 

Betts,  Chas,  216. 

Beveridge,  J.  H.,  164,  167. 

Beveridge,  J.  L.  230,  231,  235,  245,  248,  260,  422,  449,  474. 

Birney,  James  G.  3. 

Bishop,  Richard.  216,  473. 

Bissell,  Wm.  H.,  633,  39,  40,  96,  110,  378,  36,  41,  94,  220. 

Blackburn,  B.  F.,  44. 

Blackburn,  H.  S.,  100, 102. 

Black,  J.  C.,  199,  230,  231,  254. 

Black,  T.  G.,  474. 

Black  W P 303 

Black,’  Laws’  41,  330,  333,  334,  335,  337,  338,  339,  342,  343,  344,  346,  347,  350,  351,  352. 
Black,  Laws  Approved,  333. 

Blaisdell,  E.  W.,  473. 

Blood-Hounds,  351. 

Bond,  Parmenus,  33. 

Bonham,  Edward,  255. 

Boone,  L.  D.  35. 

Boyd,  J.  C.  473. 

Boyd,  T.  A.,  254,  265. 

Breese,  Sidney,  266. 

Brentano,  Lorenz,  253. 

Brewer,  Thomas,  206. 

Bribery  Investigation  of  General  Assemblies,  604,  605. 

Bright,  Hiram,  44. 

Bronson,  S.  G.  232. 

Bromwell,  H.  P.  H.,  32,  34,  35,  104,  165,  m 
Brooks,  John  P.,  145,  146,  147,  164. 

Brooks,  W.  S.,  264, 

Bross,  Wm.,  164,  167,  200,  227. 

Brown,  C.  C.,  30,  96. 

Brown,  D.  A.,  104. 

Brown,  Elizabeth  B.,  301. 

Brown,  W.  R.,  31. 

Browning,  O.  H.,  294-300,  390,  414,  458,  587. 

Bryan,  S.  L.,  233. 

Bryant,  J.  H.,  439,  445,  447. 

Buchanan,  J ames,  2,  5. 

Buck,  E.  B.,  304. 

Buckmaster,  Samuel,  96,  260. 

BurchardL  H.  C.,  216,  232,  243,  254. 

Bureau  County  Republican.  559. 

Burke,  B.  T.,  99,  102. 

Burr,  Aaron,  1. 

Burr,  A.  G..  200,  207. 

Bushnell,  Wash.,  206,  221  227. 

Butler,  Wm.,  94,99,  102,  145,227. 

Butterworth,  Thomas,  275,  276. 

"By  The  Wars  The  People  Elected  Me,”  424 


Cable,  P.  L.,  216. 

Cable,  R.  R..  583. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  19,  20.  2. 

Callahan,  E.  165. 

Campbell,  Alex.,  243,  254,  264. 

Campbell,  G.  H.,  102,  99. 

Campbell,  J.  C.,  569. 

Campbell,  Thompson,  104. 

Campbell,  W.  J.,  316,  320. 

Canal  Script  Fraud,  217,  219. 

Cannon,  J.  G.,  233,  244,  254,  265,  278,  304,  474. 
Carr,  Clark,  E.,  560,  565. 

Carlin,  W.  E.,  472. 

Carroll,  Chas.,  242,  243. 

Case,  Henry,  200,  103. 

Casey,  Samuel  K.,  33,  41,  165. 

Casey,  Zadok,  417. 


INDEX, 


na 


Cass,  Lewis,  5. 

Castle,  Wm.  B.,  449. 

Cather,  W.  H.,  99,  102. 

Caulfield,  B.  G.,  243. 

Celestial  Meridian  of  36  deg.,  30  min.,  417. 

Chafee,  G.  D.,  255. 

Chamberlin,  M.  H.,  232. 

Champaign  Herald,  559. 

Chicago  Fire,  353. 

Chicago  Tribune,  227,  581. 

Churcnill,  Chas.,  547. 

Cilley  and  Graves  Duel,  310. 

Clark,  C.  C.,  474. 

Clark,  J.  B.,  473. 

Clay,  Henry,  18,  2. 

Clements,  Isaac,  233,  244. 

Clough,  J.  H.,  499,  498,  496. 

Cochran,  J.  S.,  565. 

Coffer,  John,  35. 

Collins,  Jr.,  L.  C.,  319. 

Collins,  W.  H.,  565. 

Colored  Jurors,  351. 

Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  16. 

Conkling,  J.  C.,  104. 

Connolly,  J.  A.,  423,  564,  565.  560. 

Constable,  C.  H.,  35. 

Constitutional  Conventions — 1862,  142;  1869,  70,  213. 

Constitution  of  1848,  370. 

Constitution  of  1870,  519. 

Contest  for  United  States  Senator  in  1885,  500. 

Cook,  B.  C.,  165.  199,  206,  216,  458, 

Cook  County  Corruption,  517. 

Cook,  Daniel  P.,  562,  563. 

Copp,  Jr.,  Uriah,  472. 

Corporations  in  the  Courts,  454. 

Correspondence  between  Palmer  and  Grant,  362,  364. 

Correspondence  between  Lincoln  and  Browning,  295,  297. 

Corwin,  Franklin,  202,  210,  232,  243. 

Coy,  W.  S.,  251,  253. 

Crawford,  Wm.  H.,  2. 

Craig,  A.  M.,  449. 

Crebs,  John  M.,  199,  207,  217. 

Cregier,  DeWitt  C.,  609. 

Creighton,  Jacob  R.,  593,  576. 

Creighton,  James  A.,  555. 

Cullen,  Wm..  277,  303. 

Cullom,  S.  M.,  32,  35.  165,  200,  207,  238.  251,  252,  257,  261,  270,  274,  275,  290,  319,  320, 
321,  112,  601. 

Cummings,  J.  E.,  104. 

Cunningham,  J.  T.,  103. 

Cushman.  W.  H.  W.,  104. 


Danenhower,  W.  N.,  35. 
uavidson,  James  W.,  34,  44. 

Davis,  David,  227,  262,  390,  451. 

Davis,  Geo.  R.,  253,  264,  276,  303. 

Davis,  J.  C.  44. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  18. 

Death  of  Douglas,  142. 

Death  of  Gen.  Lippincott,  314. 

Death  of  Gen.  Logan,  309. 

Death  of  Wm.  H.  Bissell,  110. 

Death  of  Judge  Treat,  516. 

Debate  Between  Douglas  and  Lincoln— 

At  Freeport,  45.— Correspondence  Between  Them,  49— Lincoln’s  Opening 
Speech,  53.— Douglas’  Reply,  64.— Lincoln’s  Rejoinder,  86. 

Dement,  H.  D.,  274,  276,  290,  316,  472,  486,  491. 

Dement,  JohA.  215,  326,  421. 

Delegates  in  Congress,  377. 

Democratic  State  Convention,  1888,  575. 

Dennis,  J.  H.,  100,  102. 

Dickey,  T.  L.,  146,  199. 

Dimmitt,  J.  P.  265. 


114 


INDEX. 


Dinsmoor,  James,  232. 

Disbursement  of  State  Funds,  397. 

Doane,  John  W.  302. 

Donnelly,  Neil,  146. 

Doolittle,  J.  R.,  264. 

Dougherty,  John,  43,  104,  205,  221. 

Dougherty,  M.  J.,  472. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  379,  388,  121,  24, 136,  138. 

Douglas  and  Lincoln,  1858,  45,  139,  142.  98,  43,  45,  99, 100,  371. 

Dred  Scott  Decision,  7. 

Drury,  J.  W.,  104. 

Dubois,  Jesse  K.,  6,  33,  36,  94,  99,  102,  147,  227. 

Duncan,  Joseph,  6,  33,  563. 

Duncan’s  Resolution  of  Censure,  496. 

Dunham,  Chas.,  254. 

Dunham,  R.  W.,  302,  473,  545. 

Dunlap,  M.  L.,  445. 

Durham,  John,  35. 

Dyer,  Thomas,  44. 

Early,  Jno.,  235,  450. 

Eastman,  B.  D.,  34. 

Eckles,  J.  S.,  165,  473. 

Eden,  J.  R.,  146,  165,  205,  244,  255,  475. 

Edgar,  W.  H.,  277. 

Edsall,  J.  K.,  230,  231,  235,  251,  253,  257,  270,  455,  456,  460. 

Edwards,  B.  S.,  207. 

Edwards,  Ninian,  14,  387. 

Edwards,  Richard,  543,  548,  599. 

Election  of  John  Adams,  1. 

Election  of  Jefferson,  1. 

Election  of  United  States  Senators,  98,  169,  262,  273,  319,  512,  551. 
Elliott,  I.  H.,  243. 

Ellwood,  Reuben,  303,  473. 

Enos,  C.  W.,  472. 

Etter,  S.  M.,  243,  242,  245,  257,  263,  450. 

Eustace,  J.  W.,  230,  231. 

Evans,  Daniel,  277. 

Evans,  J.  W.,  275,  276. 


Farmer’s  Strike,  445. 

Farnsworth,  John  F.,  129,  380,  34,  44,  146,  164,  199,  206,  216,  243,  253,  276,  390. 
Farwell,  C.  B.,  216,  232,  243,  277,  512,  551. 

Ficklin,  O.  B.,  32,  35. 

Feinse,  Chas.,  216. 

Fidelity  of  State  Officers,  217. 

Fifer,  J.  W.,  560,  561,  565,  566,  575.  593,  599,  601,  602. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  5,  6,  20. 

Finerty.  John  F.,  303,  473. 

First  Colored  School,  350. 

First  Colored  Vote  in  Cairo,  352. 

First  Elec  ion  of  Washington,  1. 

First  Legislative  Quorum  Broken  in  Illinois,  433. 

Fithian,  Wm.,  35. 

Fixing  Maximum  Charges  of  Railways,  458. 

Flagg,  W.  C..  445,  446. 

Fonaey,  Wm.  B.,  43,  42. 

Formation  of  the  Liberal  Republican  Party,  226. 

Formation  of  Parties,  1. 

Forsythe,  A.  P.,  265,  278. 

Fort,  G.  L.,  232,  243,  254,  264. 

Fouke,  P.  B.,  45,  103. 

Fowler,  E.  S.,  200. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  5,  6,  28. 

French,  A.  C.,  43. 

Frick,  A.  J.,  104. 

Fuller,  Allen  C.,  173,  103,  168. 

Fuller,  Chas.  E.,  493,  494,  504,  509.  • 

Fuller,  M.  W.,  266. 

Fullerton,  Hugh,  165. 

Funk,  Isaac,  148,  159. 


INDEX, 


115 


Gale,  Jacob,  44. 

Gates,  Wm.  B.,  473. 

General  Assemblies— 

Twentieth,  36— Twenty-first,  94— Twenty-second,  110,  117— Twenty-third, 
148— Twenty-fourth,  167,  203,  204— Twenty-fifth,  201,  203,  204— Twenty-sixth, 
208— Twenty-seventh,  221,  225,  226— Twenty-eighth,  235— Twenty-ninth,  245- 
Thirtieth,  257— Thirty -first,  270— Thirty- second,  290— Thirty-third,  316— 
Thirty-fourth,  487— Thirty -fifth,  548— Thirty- sixth,  599, 

General  Logan  Challenged,  305, 

Gillespie,  Joseph,  32,  35,  103. 

Glenn,  A.  A.,  245,  251,  252,  450, 

Goodhue  B.  W„  472. 

’ Gore,  David,  242,  243. 

Governors,  375. 

Graham,  Benj.,  146. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  280,  281,  284,  311,  313. 

Grant’s  Correspondence  with  Lee,  284. 

Gray,  O.  C.,  206. 

Great  Fire  in  Chicago,  353. 

Green,  E.  B.,  304. 

Green,  Wm.  H.,  31,  435. 

Griffith,  A.  H.,  34. 

Grimshaw,  Jackson,  34,  44. 

Grinnell,  J.  S.,  527,  518. 

Gross,  Jacob,  472,  486. 

Growth  of  the  Republican  Party,  30. 

Gundlach.  Geo.,  251,  253. 

Gwin,  J.  W.,  473. 

Haaff,  H.  H.,  473. 

Haines,  E.  M.,  199,  248,  323,  450,  490,  491,  494,  495. 

Hale,  John  P.,  4. 

Hale,  T.  J.,  35. 

Haley,  P.  C.,  303,  474. 

Hall,  F.  H.,  301.  / 

Hall,  F.  M.,  263. 

Hamilton,  J.  M„  274,  276,  290,  316,  325,  478. 

Hamilton,  R.  J.,  33. 

Hamlin,  H.  J.,  475. 

Hammond,  H.  J.,  216. 

Hammond.  Royal,  474, 

Hanchett,  H.  S.,  104. 

, Harding,  A.  C.,  165,  199. 

Harlow,  G.  H.,  230,  231,  235,  245,  251,  253,  257,  270. 

Harmon,  Lawrence,  275,  276. 

Harper,  Jesse,  265. 

Harrington,  G.  P.,  474, 

Harrison,  C.  H.,  231,  243,  253,  472,  609. 

Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  2,  5,  6. 

Harris,  C.  M.,  165. 

Harris,  C.  W.,  146. 

Harris,  S.  W.,  199. 

Harris,  Thomas  L..  34,  44. 

Harts,  D.  H.,  593. 

Hartzell,  Wm.,  217,  244,  255,  278. 

Hatch,  O.  M.,  6,  33,  36,  94,  99,  102,  147,  227. 

Hathaway,  M.  D.,  264. 

Hawk,  R.  M.  A.,  264,  277. 

Hawley,  J.  B.,  206,  216,  232. 

Hawley,  J.  M.,  104. 

Hayes,  P.  C.,  254  , 264. 

Haynie,  I.  N.,  104. 

Hay,  J.  B.  207,  217,  233,  278. 

Hecker,  Frederick,  35. 

“He  Knew  Him  Before  the  Flood,”  421. 

Henderson,  T.  J.,  146,  243,  254,  277,  303,  473,  594. 

Henry,  R.  B.,  244. 

Herrington,  A.  M.,  35,  102,  206. 

Hicks,  S.  G\,  147. 

Higbee,  C.  L.,  41, 

High  License,  323,  322. 

Hill,  Chas.  A.,  594. 

Hise,  John,  164,  251,  253. 


116 


INDEX, 


Hilt,  R.  R.,  303.  473,  594. 

Hobbs,  James  B.,  472. 

Hoffman,  F,  A.,  99,  102,  147,  227. 

Hoffman,  Jr.,  F.  A.,  243,  576,  593. 

Holloway,  Robt.,  35.  277. 

Holmes,  Samuel,  37. 

Honey,  J.  W..  474. 

Hooton,  M.  M.,  251,  253. 

Hope,  T.  M„  45,  99,  101. 

Hopkins,  A.  J.,  594. 

Hosmer,  P.  E.,  278. 

How  Col.  Reuben  Loomis  was  Killed,  419. 

How  Ebon  C.  Ingersoll  was  Defeated  for  Congress,  438. 
How  Grant  Entered  the  Army,  281. 

How  Lincoln  came  to  Challenge  Douglas,  195. 

How  Lovejoy  Conquored  Prejudice,  105. 

How  Lovejoy  Helped  the  Democrats,  108. 

How  Pinkney  H.  Walker  Became  Judge,  420. 

How  the  Constitution  of  1848  Was  Evaded,  436. 

Hoxie,  J.  R.,  253. 

Hungato,  J.  H.,  254. 

Hunt,  Geo.,  473,  485,  486,  490,  565,  599. 

Hunter,  A.  J.,  216,  304. 

Hurd,  Harvey  B.,  418,  521. 

Hurlbut,  S.  A.,  232,  243,  253. 


“If  They  Will  Let  Me  Out  with  as  Good  Character  as  I Had,”  425. 
Illinois  and  the  National  Government,  400. 

Illinois  and  the  War,  171. 

Illinois  in  Congress,  377. 

Illinois  in  the  Kansas  Struggle,  418. 

Incidents  and  Anecdotes,  413. 

Ingersoll,  E.  C.,  145,  146,  165,  199,  206,  216,  390,  438. 

Ingersoll,  R.  G.,  103,  200,  249,  398. 

Ingram,  W.  T.,  275,  276. 

Ingham,  Geo.,  6. 

Irwin,  A.  B.,  472, 

Irwin,  C.  M.,  104. 

Irwin,  J.  G.  301. 

Irwin,  James  S.,  34,  35. 

“It  Made  Our  Very  Hair  Frizzle,”  109. 

“I  was  Born  a Poor,  Barefooted  Boy,”  422. 


Jackson,  Andrew,  2. 
Jackson,  R.  H.,  44. 

James,  B.  F.,  34. 

James,  W.  A..,  273. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  1,  14,  13. 
Jenkins,  Ezra,  33. 

Johnson,  Hale,  473. 
Johnson,  L.  G.,  277,  303. 
Johnson,  M.  C.,  164. 
Johnson,  M.  Y.,  104. 
Johnson,  R.  M.,  2. 

Jonas,  Abraham,  35. 

Jones,  John  (colored,)  341, 
Jones,  Malden,  265. 

Jones,  S.  H.,  423,  30. 

Joslyn,  M.  L.,  35. 

Judd,  N.  B.,  199,  105,  206. 
Judd,  S.  C.,  104,  164. 


Kehoe,  Miles,  264. 
Kellogg,  Wm.,  34,  44, 
Kellogg,  W.  P.,  103. 
Kilburn,  N..  474. 
Killett,  Wm.  F.,  473. 
King,  J.  M.,  264,  277. 
Kinney,  Wm.,  6. 
Kirk,  James,  474. 
Kitchell,  E.  200. 
Knapp,  A.  L.,  147. 
Knapp,  N.  M.,  165. 


103. 


INDEX, 


117 


Knapp,  R.  M.,  232,  254. 

Knofes,  T.  S.,  474. 

Koerner,  G-ustavus,  227,  229,  231. 

Kofer,  John,  104. 

Kronkrite,  E.  L .,  263,  494. 

Kueffner,  W.  C.  305. 

Kuykendall,  A.  J.,  166,  112. 

Labor  Troubles  of  1886,  523.  ' v 

Lake  Front,  426. 

Landes,  S.  Z.,  474. 

J-^ane,  Edward,  595. 

Lansing,  James  D.,  34. 

Last  Attempt  to  Return  a Slave,  347. 

Last  Time  Gen.  Grant  Appeared  in  Public,  311. 

Lathrop,  Wm..  253, 

Lanphier,  C.  H.,  230,  231. 

Lawler,  Francis,  473,  593,  545. 

Law-making  Under  the  Constitution  of  1848,  409. 

Lawrence,  C.  B.,  146,  449. 

Lawrence,  R.  D.,  421. 

Lee,  J.  E.,  473. 

Lee,  John  S.,  277. 

LeMoyne,  J.  V.,  232,  243,  253. 

Leroy,  David,  44. 

Letter  of  Matte  son  to  Committee  of  Investigation,  218. 

Lewis,  J.  H.,  277,  304. 

Lewis,  Morgan  A.,  448. 

Lincoln.  Abbaham— 

Account  of  His  Birth  and  Early  Manhood  by  Himself,  181.  Speech  at 
Philadelphia,  183.  Inaugural  Address,  184.  Speech  at  Gettysburg,  186. 
Kentucky  Letter,  187.  Second  Inaugural  Address,  189.  Last  Speech, 
190.  Assassination,  195,  133,  134,  196,  197,  32,  35,  43,  99,  100,  135. 

Linder,  U.  F.,  415. 

Linegar,  D.  T.,  103. 

Lippincott,  C.  E.,  200,  205,  221,  228,  230,  231,  235,  245. 

Logan,  John  A..  174, 177,  178,  32,  35,  45,  103,  199,  206,  273,  305,  309,  451,  510,  511,  513. 
Longenecker,  J.  M.,  484. 

Lovejoy,  Owen,  105,  108,  127,  34,  44,  103,  146,  390,  417,  529,  536,  587. 

Lovejoy,  Owen  G-.,  594. 

Lynch,  Edmund,  251. 

Macallister  and  Stebbins  Bonds,  170,  394. 

Machine  Politics,  561. 

Mackin  Election  Fraud,  477. 

Madison,  James,  2. 

Maher,  Hugh,  35,  99,  102. 

Maloney,  Richard  S.,  34. 

Marshall,  Samuel  S.,  34,  96,  165,  200,  207,  217,  233,  244. 

Marsh,  B.  F.,  254,  265,  277,  304. 

Martin,  J.  S.,  207,  233;  244. 

Mason,  W.  E.,  473,  499,  594,  545,  594. 

Matheny,  J H.,  44. 

Mathers,  John,  265. 

Matteson,  Joel  A.,  38,  218. 

Matthews,  A.  C.,  232,  573,  601. 

Mattocks,  John,  276. 

McCartney,  James,  274,  276  , 290,  316,  474. 

McClernand,  John  A.,  126,  103. 

McConnel,  J.  L.,  44,  104. 

McCormick,  C.  H.,  164. 

McCullough,  D.  S.,  545,  546. 

McKim,  W.  J.,  206. 

McKinlay.  R.  L.,  473. 

McLaughlin,  Daniel,  301. 

McNeely,  T.  W..  207.  217. 

McNulta,  John,  232,  244,  565,  560,  564.. 

Meacham,  U.  D.,  473. 

Melson,  W.,  233. 

Members  of  Congress.  377,  387. 

Merriam,  J.,  217. 

Merritt,  T.  E.  499,  505. 

Messick,  J.  B.,  509. 


118 


INDEX, 


Miller,  James,  6,  33,  36,  43. 

Miller,  James  H.,  565. 

Miller,  Orvil,  35. 

Mills,  L.  F.  518. 

Miner,  O.  H.,  164,  167,  200,  227. 

•Minier,  P.  N.,  304. 

Minier,  G.  W.,  217,  244. 

Missouri  Compromise  of  1820,  12,  21. 

Mobbed  on  Account  of  His  Yote,  350. 

Monroe,  J.,  100,  102. 

Moore,  C.  H.,  232. 

Moore,  John,  33. 

Moore,  J.  H.,  206,  216. 

Morrison,  Isaac  L.,  278,  323. 

Morrison,  J.  L.  D.,  104. 

Morrison,  W.  R.,  96,  147,  165,  200,  233,  244,  255,  265,  278,  305,  475,  383. 

Morris,  B.  S.,  33. 

Morris,  Isaac  N.,  34,  44. 

Morris,  W.  S.,  498. 

Moulton.  S.  W.,  35,  147,  164,  227,  229,  278,  305. 

Mt.  Carroll  Mirror,  559. 

Munn,  D.  W.,  217. 

Murphy,  W.  K.,  305. 

Murray,  Robt.  N.,  103. 

Neebe,  Oscar,  277. 

Neece,  W.  H.,  232,  304,  474. 

Needles,  T.  B.,  251,  253,  257.  270,  423,  475. 

Negro  Slave  Marriages,  315. 

Neil,  J.  E.,  104. 

Never  an  Abolitionist,  196. 

“Never  Kept  Liquor  in  my  House  and  will  not  begin  now,”  197. 

New  Blood.  560. 

Niglas,  J.  N.,  206. 

Noland,  L.,  104. 

Norton,  J.  O.,  146. 

Number  of  Soldiers  Furnished  by  Counties,  172. 

Oberly,  J.  H.,  275,  276,  558. 

O’Brien,  W.  W.,  206. 

Official  Vote  1884,  472;  1888,  593. 

Oglesby,  R.  J.,  44.  164,  167,  200,  230,  231.  241,  311,  472,  486,  487,  560. 

O’Harra,  D.,  230. 

Oldt,  F.  T.,  543. 

Olney,  John,  104. 

Orendorff,  Alfred,  301,  472. 

Organization  of  the  Republican  Party,  25. 

Osgood,  Uri,  34. 

Otis,  L.  B..  231. 

Our  State  Banks,  407. 

Owen  Lovejoy  Egged  in  Bloomington,  413. 

Packard.  Elizabeth  P.  W.,  430. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  211,  103,  105,  205,  208,  221,  227,  229,  238,  239,  421,  449,  587,  576,  593. 
Parish,  Wm.  H.,  35,  450. 

Parker,  G.  W.,  254. 

Pa  ker,  H.  J.,  474. 

Parks,  G.  D.  A.,  232. 

Pa  rish,  Wm.  K„  45. 

Parsons,  L.  B.,  275,  276. 

Pattison,  Jere,  254. 

Party  Affiliations,  29. 

Pavey,  C.  W..  278,  565,  593,  599. 

Payment  of  Canal  Scrip,  394. 

Payson,  Lewis  E.,  277,  304,  474,  594. 

Peace  Resolutions,  152,  155,  158. 

Peoria  Transcript,  559. 

Perryman,  J.  L..  472. 

Peters,  M.  H.,  546. 

Peters,  M.  T.,  35. 

Petrie,  Alex.  P.,  474. 

Phelps,  D.  P.,  265. 

Phillips,  D.  L.,  32,  35,  45,  227,  254. 


INDEX, 


119 


Phillips,  J.  J.,  199,  205. 

Pickrell  J.  H.,  244,  251,  252. 

Pierce,  A.  D.,  583. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  2,  5. 

Pierson,  Laac  N.,  565,  599. 

Pinkney,  D.  J.,  243. 

Plato,  W.  B.,  103. 

Plumb,  Ralph,  474. 

Pogue,  W.  H.,  265. 

Political  Changes,  373. 

Political  Parties,  1. 

Polk,  James  K.,  2. 

Post,  Phillip  S.,  594,  546. 

Powell,  Wm.  B.,  242,  243. 

Powell,  Wm.  H.,  6,  33,  36. 

Power  to  Kegulate  Charges  by  Public  Warehouses,  455. 

Prentiss,  B.  M.,  103. 

Presidential  Electors,  1856,  35;  1860,  103;  1864,  166;  1868,  207;  1872,  233,  234;  1876, 
255,  256;  1880,  278,  279,  280;  1884,  475,  476,  477;  1888,  596. 

Price,  Wm.,  303. 

Printing  Investigation,  552. 

Prorogation  of  the  General  Assembly,  161. 

Prohibition  Vote  in  National  Elections,  591,  592, 

Purple,  N.  H.,  104. 

Quincy  Whig,  559. 

Baab,  Henry,  301,  316,  486. 

Railroad  Consolidation,  323. 

Ramsey,  Silas,  199.  , 

Randall,  S.  W.,  104. 

Raum,  G.  B..  200,  207,  233,  244. 

Rawlins,  John  A.  104. 

Ray,  L.  B.,  565,  593,  599. 

Ray,  W.  H.,  232. 

Reeves,  E.  F.,  472. 

Remarks  of  R.  G.  Ingersoll  over  the  Grave  of  his  Brother,  443. 

Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  1820,  21. 

Representatives  in  Congress,  377. 

Republican  Party,  25. 

Republican  State  Convention,  1888, 559. 

Reynolds,  John,  6,  43. 

Reynolds,  Wm.  H.,  277. 

Revision  of  the  Laws,  521. 

Rice,  E.  Y.,  217. 

Rice,  J.  B.,  231. 

Richey,  H.,  244. 

Richmond,  J.  P.,  35. 

Richardson,  Wm.  A.,  6,  29,  33,  103,  390. 

Ricks,  N.  D.  576,  593. 

Ricker,  H.  F.  J.,  543. 

Ridgely,  Chas.,  216,  583. 

Ridgway,  T.  S.,  242,  243,  245,  424,  422,  475. 

Right  of  Free  Speech  Denied  to  Douglas,  24. 

Riggs,  J.  M.,  304,  474. 

Rinaker,  J.  I.,  244,  560,  565. 

Riot  at  East  St.  Louis,  523. 

Riot  in  St.  Clair  County,  325. 

Robbins,  Joseph,  254. 

Robinson,  J.  C.,  44,  147,  164,  217,  232,  103. 

Robinson,  Wm.  H.,  217. 

Roe,  E.  R.,  99,  102,  416. 

Rogers,  J.  G.,  104. 

Rogers,  Judge,  525. 

Ross,  G.  C.,  305. 

Ross,  L.  F.,  207,  244,  445. 

Ross,  L.  W.,  99,  102,  147,  165,  200. 

Rowell,  J.  H.,  304,  447,  474. 

Rummell,  Edward,  205,  221,  227,  230,  231. 

Rutheiford,  F.  S.,  35. 

Rutz,  Edward,  230,  231,  235,  251,  253,  257,  274,  276,  290,  422,  424. 


120 


INDEX, 


Santa  Anna’s  Wooden  Leg,  316. 

Scholfield,  John,  450. 

Scott,  J.  R.,  278. 

Secession,  122. 

Seiter,  Henry,  472. 

Senators  in  Congress,  387,  391. 

Shannon,  J.  R.,  205. 

Shannon,  Wm.,  104. 

Shaw,  Aaron,  34,  304. 

Shaw,  James,  260,  447. 

Shaw,  T.  M.,  2 4. 

Sheridan,  H.  F.  303. 

Sherman,  F.  C.,  146. 

Sherwin,  J.  C„  264,  277. 

Shuman,  Andrew,  251,  252,  257,  270. 

Simons,  C.  F.  473. 

Simpson,  Andr  w.  244. 

Singleton,  J.  W.,  206,  265,  277,  304. 

Slade,  J.  P.,  263,  270,  290. 

Slavery  Agitation,  10. 

Sloss,  J.  H.,  35. 

Smith,  B.  B.,  265. 

Smith,  D.  C.,  278,  304. 

Smith,  G-eo.  W.,  199,  200. 

Smith,  George  W.,  595. 

Smith,  H.  S.,  99,  102. 

Smith,  John  C.,  263,  270,  301,  316,  472,  486,  500,  565,  560. 

Smith,  J.  D.,  100,  102. 

Smith,  Jr.,  Perry  H.,  277. 

Smith,  Robert,  34,  147. 

Smith,  Sidney,  243. 

Smith,  W.  M.  224. 

Snell,  Thomas,  99,  102. 

Snow,  D.  J.,  100,  102. 

Snow,  Josiah,  35, 104. 

Sparks,  Wm.  A.  J.,  32,  35,  244,255,  265,  278,576. 

Snyder,  Wm.  H.,  33,  207. 

Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  37,  96,  149,  210,  224,  112,  168,  202, 
238,  248,  260,  273,  293,  319,  494,  550,  601. 

Speech  of  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  130. 

Speech  of  Roscoe  Conkling  Nominating  Grant,  403. 

Speech  of  JohnF.  F rnsworth,  129. 

Speech  of  J.  W.  Fifer,  566. 

Speech  of  tt.  G-.  Ingersoll  Nominating  Blaine,  398. 

Speech  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  127. 

Speech  of  John  A.  McClernand,  126. 

Speech  of  John  M.  Palmer  to  the  Convention  of  1888,  576,  579. 

Speech  of  Lyman  Trumbull,  122. 

Spoils  System,  607. 

Springer,  Wm.  M.,  244,  254,  265,  278,  304,  475,  595. 

Stamper,  Jonathan,  100,  102. 
t Starkel,  L.  C.,  275,  276. 

Stark,  James,  103. 

Starne,  Alexander,  145,  147,  164,  220,  421. 

Starr,  J.  S.,  474. 

State  Campaigns— 

1856- 32,  33,  34,  35.  1858-42,  44,  43.  1860-99, 104,  102,  103.  1862-145,  146.  1864- 

162,  166.  1866-198,  199.  1868—204,  205,  206,  207.  1870—215,  216.  1872—226,  230. 

1874-242.  1876-251.  1878—263.  1880-274.  1882-301.  1884-466.  1886—543. 

1888—559. 

State  Debt,  392,  393,  394,  396. 

State  Funds,  391. 

State  Governments— 

1857— 36.  1859—94.  1861—110.  1863—147.  1865—167.  1867—200.  1869—208.  1871— 

221.  1873-235.  1875-245.  1877-257.  1879—270.  1881—290.  1883-316.  1885— 

486.  1887-548.  1889—599. 

States  Carried  by  Cleveland,  598. 

States  Carried  by  Harrison,  598. 

State  House,  515. 

Steel  Portraits— 

Lincoln,  Douglas,  Yates,  Grant,  Palmer.  Logan— From  the  Great  Con- 
spiracy, by  Hart  & Yon  Arx,  New  York.  Browning,  Edwards,  Coles— 
From  Washburne’s  Sketch  of  Coles,  by  A.  C.  McClurg  & Co.,  Chicago. 
Owen  Lovejoy. 


INDEX, 


121 


Stevenson,  A.  E.,  244,  254,  265,  278,  304. 

Stevens,  B.  N.,  210,  441. 

Steward,  Lewis,  252. 

Stiles,  E.  B„  146, 165. 

Stiles,  I.  N.,  484,  518. 

St.  Matthew,  John  H.,  33. 

S to  its,  E.  A.,  486. 

Stoughton,  J.  C.,  216,  264. 

Strattan,  C.  T.,  301. 

Strawn,  C.  C.,  264. 

Streeter,  A.  J.,  265,  274,  275,  451,  499. 

Stuart,  J.  T.,  100,  101,  146,  165. 

Sturgis,  L.  B.,  565. 

Supreme  Court  Decisions  of  the  United  States  Belating  to  Prohibition,  585. 
Swett,  Leonard,  103,  146,  227. 

Swigert,  C.  P.,  274,  276,  290,  316,  472,  486. 


Tanner,  John  R.,  543,  548. 

Taylor,  Abner,  593. 

Taylor,  J.  M.,  474. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  2,  5,  16,  17. 

Taxing  Franchises  and  other  Property  of  Corporations,  463. 

Taxing  National  Bank.  Stock,  461. 

“Tell  Old  Hilliard  to  Come  and  See  Me,  Devilish  Quick,”  424. 

Temperance  Legislation.  40S. 

Terhune,  Edgar,  545. 

Terry,  E.  P.,  35. 

Thanks  of  Gov.  Bissell  to  the  Inceptors  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  39. 
There  is  no  use  of  this  Investigation,  422. 

Thomas,  H.  H.,  293. 

Thomas,  Jesse  B.,  14,  388. 

Thomas,  John  R.,  266,  278,  305,  475. 

Thompson,  J.  M.,  275,  276. 

Thompson.  J.  S.,  199. 

Three  Branches  of  the  Government  Pro-slavery,  29. 

Thornton,  Anthony,  104, 165. 

Thornton.  S.  Y..  251,  253. 

Ticknor,  J.  S.,  303. 

Tilden,  Wm.  M.,  473. 

Till  he  was  Conscripted,  415. 

Tipton,  T.  F.,  254.  265,  449. 

“Tom  Needles  and  John  Bunn  Know  too  D n Much,”  243. 

Townshend,  R.  W.,  255,  266,  278,  305,  475. 

Transition  from  Slavery  to  Freedom,  339. 

Tree,  Lambert,  264,  303,  512. 

Trials  of  Contrabands,  347. 

Trial  of  Owen  Lovejoyfor  Harboring  Runaway  Slaves,  529. 

Trial  of  the  Anarchists,  537. 

Tribulations  of  free  Negroes,  344. 

Truesdale,  B.  H.,  277. 

Truesdale,  Calvin,  232. 

Trumbull,  Lyman,  122,  227,  229,  275. 

Tupper,  N.  W.,  W)4. 

Turner,  J.  B.,  207,  244. 

Turner,  T.  J.,  199. 

Turney,  Wm.  A.,  164. 

Tuthill,  R.  S.,  479,  480. 

Tyndale,  Sharon,  164,  167,  200. 


U.  F.  Linder  and  the  “Little  Doctor,”  415. 
Underwood,  W.  H.,  104. 

United  States  Senators,  387,  151, 


Yan  Buren,  Martin,  2,  4,  5,  6. 
Yande water,  A.  C.,  472. 

Yan  Epps.  W.  H.,  205. 

Yan  Hoorbeke,  Gustave,  205. 
Yan  Nortwick,  John,  34. 

Yote  for  Congressmen,  18*8,  593. 
Yote  for  President,  1888,  598. 
Yote  for  State  Officers,  1888,  593. 


122 


INDEX, 


Wagley,  W.  C.,  104. 

Walker,  F.  W.,  518. 

Wallace,  J.  A.,  474. 

Wallace,  M.  E.  M.,  199,  206. 

Wallace,  E.  E.,  277. 

Wall.  G.  W.,  233,  458. 

Ward.  J.  D.,  231,  243. 

Ward,  J.  H.,  473. 

Warren,  C.  A.,  104. 

Washburne,  E.  B.,  34,  44,102,  146,  165,  199,  206,  390,  380. 
Weaver,  W.  H.,  503,  506,  507  , 509. 

Welrh,  Andrew,  576,  593. 

Weldon,  Lawrence,  103,  227. 

Wentworth  and  Browning,  414. 

Wentworth,  John,  164,  216,  227,  414. 

Westlake,  B.  F.,  217. 

What  Connecticut  Did,  335. 

What  Massachusetts  Did,  337. 

What  Owen  Lovejoy  Could  Not  Do,  408. 

What  The  Nation  Did,  338. 

Whipped  and  Ordered  from  the  State,  342. 

Whiting,  L.  D.,  445,  449,  490,  499.  498,  583. 

Whiting,  E.  H.,  244. 

Whitlock,  H.  G.,  275. 

Why  a New  Party  was  Formed,  10. 

Wike,  Scott,  241,  595. 

Wiley,  Benj.  L.,  34,  255. 

Wilkins,  Daniel,  216. 

Wilkin,  J.  W.,  244. 

“Will  The  Sheriff  Call  Mr.  Pffrimmer?”  414. 

Williams,  John,  34. 

Williams,  E.  E.,  206. 

Wilson,  G.  A.,  254,  265. 

Wood,  H.  J.,  474. 

Wood,  John,  33,  94,  113,  6,  36,  37. 

Woodman,  C.  W.,  545. 

Woodson,  D.  M.,  104. 

Work  of  the  Session,  514. 

Worthington,  N.  E.,  232,  304,  474. 

Wright,  F.  M.,  561,  565. 


Yates  and  the  Kentucky  Colonel.  109. 

Yates,  Eichard,  99,  101,  109,  110,  114,  117,  149,  118,  147,  169,  228. 
Yost,  W.  J.,  104. 

Young,  Wm.  H.,  33. 


Index  to  Appendix. 


Address  of  James  B.  Turner  to  the  Farmers,  98. 
Admission  as  a State,  7. 

Alexander,  Wm.  M.,  20. 

Allen,  J.  C.,  80. 

Allen,  W.  J.,  93. 

Allen,  Willis,  73,  74. 

Alton  as  a Eival  to  St.  Louis,  36. 

Anderson,  Stinson  H.,  54,  56. 

An  Attempt  to  Make  Illinois  a Slave  State,  28,  29,  30. 
A Pleasing  Incident,  37. 

Baker,  E.  D.,  51,  52,  71. 

Baldwin.  Eugene  F.,  92. 

Battle  of  Bad  Axe,  50. 

Berry,  E.  C.,  20,  10,  31. 

Birbeck,  Morris,  25,  24. 

Bissell,  Wm.  H.,  71. 

Black  Hawk,  49,  50. 

Black  Laws,  88. 

Blackwell,  David,  25. 


INDEX  TO  APPENDIX, 


123 


Bond.  Shadrach,  15,  16,  11,  10,  33. 

, Breese,  Sidney,  80. 

Brooks,  Austin,  92. 

Bross,  Wm„  92. 

Browning,  O.  H.,  51. 

Buckmaster,  S.  A.,  80. 

Butler,  Wm„  53. 

By  Whom  Illinois  Was  First  Settled,  1. 

Cairo  in  1818,  32. 

Campbell,  David  B.,  72. 

Campbell,  Thomas  H.,  72,  88. 

Campbell,  Thompson,  70,  73,  74,  75. 

Canal,  81,  83,  87. 

Capitals,  13. 

Carlin,  Thomas,  54,  56,  76. 

Carpenter,  Milton,  59,  72,  78.  * 

Casey,  Zadok,  36.  39,  73,  74,  75. 

Chicago,  when  First  Settled,  57,  58. 

Child  ten  of  Ninian  Edwards,  36. 

Cioud,  Newton,  72. 

Coles,  Edward,  25,  20,  19,  24,  26,  28. 

Constitutional  Convention,  1818,  7. 

Consli  utional  Convention,  1847,  72. 

Cook,  B.  C.,  93,  94. 

Cook,  D.  P.,  7,  5,  11,  89, 

Cooley,  Horace  S.,  72,  75. 

Crenshaw,  John,  22. 

Davidson,  Wm.  H.,  51. 

Davis,  David,  73,  74. 

Davis,  T.  G.  C.,  73. 

Davis,  Levi,  53,  54. 

Death  of  Shadrach  Bond,  16. 

Death  of  Ninian  Edwards,  36. 

Dement,  John,  46,  49,  51,  73,  74,  78. 

Destruction  ol  Lovejoy’s  Printing  Presses,  66. 
Destruction  of  the  Mormon  Temple  at  Nauvoo,  48. 
Dickey,  T.  Lyle,  55,  56. 

Difference  in  the  Practice  of  Courts  now  and  then,  108. 
Dougherty,  John,  51,  78. 

Doug  as,  Stephen  A.,  51,  56. 

Dubois,  Jessie  K.,  51,  78. 

Duncan,  Joseph,  48,  52. 

Duncan,  Matthew,  89,  88. 

Early  Salt  Making,  21. 

E idy,  Henry,  89. 

Edwards,  Cyrus,  51. 

Edwa  ds,  Ninian,  12,  2,  3,  31,  35,  50. 

Edwards,  Ninian  W.,  49,  51,  73,  76,  78. 

Edwards,  13.  S.,  36. 

Elijah  P.  Lovejoy’s  Brave  Speech,  62. 

Elliott,  Isaac  H.,  71. 

Emery,  Enoch,  92. 

Ewing.  Wm.  L.  D.,  31,  35,  39,  46,  47,  51,  54,  56,  59,  70. 

Ficklin,  Orlando  B.,  59. 

Field,  Abner,  25. 

Field,  Alexander  P.,  29,  35,  39,  48,  54. 

Field,  Green  B.,  10,  71. 

First  and  Only  Duel  in  Illinois,  53. 

First  boundary  of  Illinois  Did  not  Include  Chicago,  9. 
First  Canvass  before  the  People  for  Governor,  19. 
First  Capital,  13. 

First  Settlement  of  Kaskaskia,  14. 

First  Tenitoiial  Legislature,  3. 

Fisher,  George,  4,  5. 

Flower,  24. 

Fondey,  W.  B.,  71. 

Ford,  Thomas,  29.  49,  59,  71. 

Formation  of  Legislative  Dis  ricts,  3. 


124 


INDEX  TO  APPENDIX. 


Formation  of  the  Territory,  1. 

Forquer,  George,  25,  31,  39. 

Four  Candidates  for  Governor  before  the  People.  19. 

French,  Augustus  C.,  51,  72,  75,  78,  80. 

Gatewood,  W.  J.,  51,  83. 

General  Assemblies— 

First,  11.  Second,  15.  Third,  20.  Fourth,  25.  Fifth,  31.  Sixth,  35.  Sev- 
enth, 39.  Eighth,  46.  Ninth,  49.  Tenth,  51.  Eleventh,  54.  Twelfth,  56. 
Thifteenth,  59.  Fourteenth,  70.  Fifteenth,  72.  Sixteenth,  75.  Seven- 
teenth, 80.  Eighteenth,  88.  Nineteenth,  93. 

General  LaFayette  Visits  Illinois,  23. 

Gillespie,  Joseph,  76,  93. 

Governor  Coles  on  Titles,  23. 

Governor  Duncan’s  Appeal  for  the  Canal,  81. 

Gregg,  David  L.,  87. 

Gregory,  Charles,  53. 

Gross,  Wm.  L.,  89. 

Hackelton,  Samuel,  59. 

Hall,  James,  35,  39. 

Hamilton,  Wm.  S.,  32. 

Hansen,  Nicholas,  29. 

Hardin,  John  J.,  71,  78. 

: Hatch,  O.  M.,  80. 

Haynie,  I.  N.,  71,  80. 

Hesing,  A.  C.,  92. 

Higbee,  C.  L.,  93. 

Hogan,  Rev.  John,  66. 

How  a Challenge  Was  Avoided,  55. 

, How  Courts  Were  Created  and  Abolished  at  Will,  105.  % 

How  Many  Places  Desired  the  Capital,  13. 

How  Trumbull  Was  First  Elected  United  States  Senator,  93,  94. 

, Hubbard,  A.  F.,  20,  25,  8. 

Hurlbut,  Stephen  A.,  73,  74. 

Illinois  Central  Railroad,  86. 

Indian  Wars,  49. 

Internal  Improvement  System,  76. 

Jenkins,  Alex  M.,  46,  48,  51. 

Journalism,  90. 

Judd,  Thomas,  73. 

Judd,  Norman  B.,  93,  94. 

Judiciary,  101,  102,  103,  104,  105,  106,  107,  108,  109. 

Judy,  Samuel,  3. 

Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  101-107. 

Kane,  Elias  K.,  7. 

Kaskaskia,  14. 

Kellogg,  Wm.,  76. 

Kinney,  Wm.,  31,  35. 

Kiichell,  Wickliffe,  56. 

Koerner,  Gustavus,  88,  59,  87,  93. 

Lamborn,  Josiah,  56,  59. 

Lanphier,  C.  H.,  92. 

Lawler,  M.  K.,  71. 

Laws  of  England  made  Applicable  to  Illinois,  12. 

Lieb,  Herman,  92. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  53,  78,  93. 

Lincoln’s  First  Candidacy  for  the  United  States  Senate,  93. 

Linder,  U.  F.,  51,  53,  76,  78. . 

Lippincott,  Thomas,  20. 

Lockwood,  S.  D„  20,  74. 

Logan,  John  A.,  71. 

Logan,  Stephen  T.,  59,  74,  93. 

Lovejoy,  Owen,  93. 

Lovejoy’s  Speech  before  his  Murder,  62. 

Massacre  at  Fort  Massac,  37. 

Mather,  Thomas,  25,  49. 

Matteson,  Joel  A.,  38,  45,  76,  87,  88,  93. 

Maxwell,  H.  H.,  3. 

McClernand,  John  A.,  51,  59,  78. 


INDEX  TO  APPENDIX 


125 


McDougall,  James  A.,  70. 

McLaughlin,  B.  K.,  12,  20. 

McLean,  John,  15,  31,  35. 

McMurtry,  Wm.,  75,  78. 

Mears,  Wm.,  12,  4. 

Medill,  Joseph,  92. 

Menard,  Pierre,  15,  11,  4,  6,  10,  3,  59. 

Merritt,  John  W.,  92. 

Messinger,  John,  11,  7. 

Mexican  War,  71. 

Monument  to  Pierre  Menard,  6. 

Moore,  Eisdon,  4, 

Moore,  John,  59,  70, 75,  78,  88. 

Mormon  War,  47. 

Morrison,  J.  L.  D.,  71,  76. 

Moulton,  S.  W.,  93. 

Murder  of  Elijah  P.  Love  joy,  59. 

Murder  of  Joseph  and  Hiram  Smith,  Mormons,  48. 

Newspapers,  Eirst,  88,  57. 

Northern  Cross  Bai  road,  84. 

Norton,  Jesse  O , 73,  74,  80. 

Novel  School  Laws,  40. 

Ogden,  William  B.,  58. 


Varney,  yy  .,  o*. 

One  of  the  Landmarks  of  1837,  38. 

Our  Colleges,  43. 

Our  Early  Educators,  43. 

Our  First  Banking,  16. 

Our  First  Eailroads,  81,  84. 

Palmer,  John  M,  73,  74,  88,  93,  94. 

Peoria  in  1824,  34. 

Personality  of  Journalism,  90,  91,  92. 
Phillips,  D.  L.  92. 

Physical  Besources,  95. 

Piatt,  B.  M.,  3. 

Plato,  W.  B.,  80. 

Pope,  Nathaniel,  3. 

Prentiss,  B.  M.,  71. 

Priekett,  David,  39,  49,  51. 

Primitive  Farming,  95. 

Printing,  88. 

Progress  in  Schools,  39. 

Prominent  Educators,  44,  45. 

Easter,  Herman,  92. 

Eay,  C.  H.,  92. 

Eemoval  of  the  Capital,  13. 

Eemoval  of  the  Mormons  from  Illinois,  48. 
Eeynolds,  John,  39,  29,  47,  50,  88. 
Eichardson.  Wm.  A.,  51,  55,  70,  71,  78. 
Bidgely,  N icholas  H,  84. 

Bidgway,  Thomas  S.,  38. 

Eoe,  E.  B.,  92. 

Boss,  L.  W.,  71. 

Safford,  A.  B.,  38. 

Scates,  Walter  B.,  52,  73,  74. 

School  Tax  Paid  in  Produce,  41. 

School  Journals,  45. 

Scripps,  John  L..  92. 

Scroggs,  Geo.,  92. 

Second  Capital,  13. 

Second  Territorial  Legislature,  4. 

Sellers,  W.  W.,  92. 

Semple,  James,  49,  51. 

Shawneetown  in  1817,  24. 

Shaw,  John,  28. 

Sheahan,  J.  W.,  92. 


126 


INDEX  TO  APPENDIX, 


Shields,  James,  51,  53,  56,  59,  71,  78,  93, 

Shuman,  Andrew,  92. 

Singleton,  James  W.,  55,  56,  72,  74. 

Slavery  in  Illinois,  26. 

Sloan,  Wesley,  76. 

Snyder,  Adam  W.,  49. 

Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  10, 11,  20,  15,  25,  31,  35,  39,  46,  49, 
54,  56,  59,  70,  72,  75,  80,  88,  93. 

Stapp,  J.  T.  B.,  48. 

Starved  Rock,  50. 

State  Agricultural  Society,  96. 

State  Government— 

1818,  9.  1822,  20.  1826,  31.  1830,  39.  1834,  48.  1838,  54.  1842,  59.  1846,  72. 
1849,  75.  1853,  87. 

Storey,  W.  F.,  92. 

Stuart,  John  T.,  46,  76,  94. 

Sullivan,  W.  K.,  92. 


Talbott,  Benjamin,  3. 

Territorial  Legislatures— 

First,  3.  Second,  4.  Third,  5. 

Territorial  Government,  3. 

Thomas,  Jesse  B.,  12,  v,  2,  89. 

Thomas,  Jr.,  Jesse  B.,  51,  52. 

Thomas,  John,  3. 

Thompson,  James,  57. 

Thornton,  Anthony,  80,  73,  74. 

Trumbull  Lyman,  93,  94. 

Turner,  Thomas  J„  93. 

Turner,  J.  B.,  98. 

Turney,  James,  20,  31. 

Yandalia,  13,  15. 

Yandeventer,  Dr.  Isaac,  56,  55. 

Walker,  Geo.,  92. 

Walker,  Isaac  P.,  54. 

Warren,  Wm.  B.,  71,72. 

Wells,  Joseph  B.,  72. 

When  Illinois  Was  First  Inhabited,  1. 

When  Kaskaskia  Was  Settled,  1. 

When  Illinois  Was  Acquired  from  Great  Britain,  1 

When  the  Northwestern  Territory  Was  Ceded  by  Yirginia  to  the  United 
States,  2. 

When  Illinois  Ceased  to  be  a Part  of  Indiana  Territory,  2. 

When  Illinois  Territory  Was  Formed,  2. 

White,  Horace,  92. 

Whiteside,  John  D.,  51,  54. 

Wicker  sham,  Dudley,  71. 

Yates,  Richard,  76. 


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